Freedom of Information Request – Acknowledgement

 

Dear John Wiseman,

Freedom of Information Request Ref: 3758

I refer to your recent request for information about Village Hall
licencing, which was received by the Council on the 31^st of July 2024.

Your request is being dealt with in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and will be responded to within twenty working days
of the date of its receipt by the Council.

If you have any queries about your Freedom of Information request, do not
hesitate to contact me. Please quote the reference number above in any
further communication concerning your request.

Yours faithfully,

 

Beau Klusko (she/her)

Freedom of Information Officer

 

Epping Forest District Council
Civic Offices,
High Street,
Epping,
Essex, CM16 4BZ

(01992) 564000

[1]A green and black logo Description automatically generated

 

 

 

From: John Wiseman <[FOI #1153424 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2024 1:26 PM
To: FOI Enquiries <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Village Halls

 

CAUTION: This Message originated outside of Epping Forest District
Council. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the
sender and know the content is safe.

Dear Epping Forest District Council,

thinking about the village Halls in the district, I would like to know if
1) a licence from the D.C. is needed when hiring out to the public for all
types of uses,
2) if this is the case please specify what type of licence is needed,
3) do the DC have any involvement with the Village Halls in terms of
monitoring hygiene or other areas that may be pertinent like nuisance to
neighbouring properties for example?

Yours faithfully,

John Wiseman

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[2][FOI #1153424 email]

Is [3][Epping Forest District Council request email] the wrong address for Freedom of
Information requests to Epping Forest District Council? If so, please
contact us using this form:
[4]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[5]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[6]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
[7]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections

Freedom of Information Request – Response

 

Dear John Wiseman,

Freedom of Information Request Ref: 3758

I refer to your recent request for information about Village halls in the
District. The information you requested is as follows:

Case Officer (Licensing):  As far as I am aware no licence is required to
hire out a village hall however, if the hirer or the hall is selling
alcohol or allowing other licensable activities to take place a premises
licence or temporary event notice may be required. So its not a simple yes
or no answer as it comes down to what the hall is being used for.

 

If the hall has a premises licence or temporary event notice is required
public nuisance, crime and disorder etc. are considered at the application
stage and if they hold a premises licence, they would also have conditions
attached to the licence that they would need to adhere to in order to
mitigate any negative impact on neighbouring residents.  

 

It would also depend on who actually owns or manages the hall. If it is
the District or Town/Parish Council they will no doubt have their own
booking conditions which the hirer would need to agree to and this will
probably include issues relating to noise etc.

 

Case Officer (from hygiene perspective):  Some village/church halls are
registered as food businesses. Those that are, have in the past, or still
have lunch clubs or similar that are arranged by, normally, the
church/church group. Others, such as Abridge Village hall have a bar and
are registered because of that.

 

If they hall doesn’t have a lunch club or bar then sometimes a children’s
playgroup that use the hall will register if they provide snacks or food
for the children.  Whilst the group have registered they may utilise the
hall kitchen, in which case any issues with the kitchen we pick up and
direct to the hall operators rather than the group hiring for their
purpose. Where there is just a hall and a kitchen and no other uses, apart
from groups such as scouts, exercise/dance classes, table tennis clubs
,etc then we wouldn’t be inspecting the kitchen for any kind of hygiene
purposes and they wouldn’t be required to register.

 

However, the hall and facilities such as toilets and the kitchen, would
fall to us under H&S legislation.  Any hall operator would have to
demonstrate that the electrics are safe, gas is safe, fire exits etc are
all safe (although fire related matters would be Essex County Fire and
Rescue Service) and without risk to any users of the hall.

 

With regard to nuisance, that would be a matter dealt with by the
Safercommunities Team and not Env Health Team.  Any complainant would be
asked to complete diary sheets detailing the nature and extent of the
alleged annoyance/nuisance prior to the team considering if any action is
necessary.  If the issue is noise, then the complainant can submit their
concern on-line:

 

[1]https://www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk/crime-...

 

For H&S/Food related issues email
[2][email address]  

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright.
You are free to use it for your own purposes, including for private study
and non-commercial research, and for any other purpose authorised by an
exception in current copyright law. Documents (except photographs) can be
also used in the UK without requiring permission for the purposes of news
reporting. Any other reuse, for example commercial publication, would
require the permission of the copyright holder.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your Freedom of Information
request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review
requests should be submitted within two months of the date of your receipt
of this response to your request and should be addressed to: Lynne Ridley,
Corporate and Data Protection Officer, Epping Forest District Council,
Civic Offices, Epping, Essex, CM16 4BZ or
[3][email address]

Please quote the reference number above in any further communication
concerning your Freedom of Information request.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of an internal review, you have
the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner in
connection with the Council’s handling of your request. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or via email @
ico.org.uk.

Yours faithfully,

Beau Klusko (she/her)

Freedom of Information Officer

 

Epping Forest District Council
Civic Offices,
High Street,
Epping,
Essex, CM16 4BZ

(01992) 564000

[4]A logo with a green circle and a white background Description
automatically generated

 

 

 

From: John Wiseman <[5][FOI #1153424 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2024 1:26 PM
To: FOI Enquiries <[6][email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Village Halls

 

CAUTION: This Message originated outside of Epping Forest District
Council. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the
sender and know the content is safe.

Dear Epping Forest District Council,

thinking about the village Halls in the district, I would like to know if
1) a licence from the D.C. is needed when hiring out to the public for all
types of uses,
2) if this is the case please specify what type of licence is needed,
3) do the DC have any involvement with the Village Halls in terms of
monitoring hygiene or other areas that may be pertinent like nuisance to
neighbouring properties for example?

Yours faithfully,

John Wiseman

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[7][FOI #1153424 email]

Is [8][Epping Forest District Council request email] the wrong address for Freedom of
Information requests to Epping Forest District Council? If so, please
contact us using this form:
[9]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[10]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[11]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...
[12]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections