Motion from Councillor N Hunt
The Council notes that:
· The Ask for Angela scheme that began in 2016 and helps anyone feeling unsafe while in a bar, pub, or club to get the support they need – by saying the code word ‘Angela’ to staff in participating licensed venues to indicate they are feeling vulnerable.
· HDC is due to review its licensing policy later in 2025.
The Council believes that:
· Everyone in Huntingdonshire deserves to be safe wherever they are - including in bars, pubs, and clubs.
· Women are disproportionately more likely to feel unsafe in bars, pubs, and clubs.
The Council resolves that:
· As part of the licensing review later in 2025, commit to exploring how the council can support the proper operation of the Ask for Angela scheme as 'best practice' for licenced venues in Huntingdonshire and encourage all licensed venues in Huntingdonshire to operate the scheme, including relevant training for venue staff.
· Commit to exploring how the council can support wider adoption and better operation of the Ask for Angela scheme as part of the review of HDC's licensing policy later this year - including potentially updating the policy to achieve this.
· Use the council's communication channels to raise awareness of the Ask for Angela scheme so local residents know how to discreetly ask for help when feeling unsafe in a licensed premise.
· Engage with neighbouring councils where the scheme is more widespread to pick up best practice about how this council can support further uptake and better operation of the scheme.
Contact:20 Minutes.
Minutes:
Councillor N J Hunt moved, and it was duly seconded by Councillor J E Harvey that
This Council notes:
This Council believes:
This Council RESOLVES to:
In presenting the proposed motion, Councillor Hunt explained that he believed that this was an area where the Council could make a difference and that every resident had the right to feel safe when frequenting a licensable premise. He stated that in his experience this was not the case, and that lack of feeling safe in licensable premises would affect the local evening economy. It was stated that there was an opportunity for the Council to improve the experience for Huntingdonshire residents via their Licensing Policy and supporting the Ask for Angela scheme through this. He observed that from the many venues in the district operating the scheme, many did support it well however some did not.
The Executive Councillor for Resident Services and Corporate Performance, Councillor S W Ferguson, stated that he was in full support of the motion. He felt that scheme was a simple but effective tool for residents to seek help when they felt unsafe. In his opinion it empowered individuals to take control of their situation and minimise risk of harm thus making public spaces safer. The proposed embedding into the Licensing Policy would come into effect within the year with the support of the Chamber with further support for venues and also in raising public awareness of the scheme with both with residents and staff in venues. He also noted that the scheme would be drawn to the attention of any new licensing applicants prior to the implementation of the revised Licensing Policy.
The motion was supported by Councillor S Cawley who echoed the need to keep residents safe and felt that the motion allowed the Council a clear path to provide support in helping to make the evening economy safer. He raised concerns of increased officer workload and administrative costs to the Council and would like to see a plan in place to fully resource the support of the scheme. He was also concerned about the risk of misuse of the scheme with cases being given where it had been used to avoid paying a bill, therefore the Councillor suggested working with local venues to make sure it was only use in genuine cases. The implementation of the scheme needed to be meaningful in order to genuinely improve safety, with measures in place to ensure correct implementation and success. He also agreed that it was crucial for the Council to raise awareness through their communication channels.
Councillor S Bywater also gave his full support to the motion and in addressing the chamber, drew from his experience in having previously worked as a Police Officer in seeing first hand the importance of this scheme and that it gives people a tool to ask for support in managing their safety.
Councillor Harvey stated that she was proud to second the motion and felt that it was important to empower individuals to take control of their personal safety. She noted that mystery shoppers could be used to test the scheme to ensure that it is correctly implemented and would like to introduce that here if possible. She felt that the adoption of the motion would be the right thing to do to keep residents safe.
In concluding the debate, Councillor Hunt was pleased to hear support from across the chamber and thanked Councillors for their comments and support.
Having been put to the vote, the Motion was declared to be CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.