Licensing Enforcement Officer - London Borough of Newham

About Newham

Newham is the home of the multi-purpose London (formerly Olympic) Stadium home of West Ham United FC; the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is home to venues for Sadler’s Wells, the Victoria & Albert museum, the BBC, and the Abba Voyage Arena; and Westfield Stratford City, the largest urban shopping and leisure destination in Europe. In the South of the borough there is the development of the Royal Docks, the home of the Greater London Authority, which has seen an expansion in licensed premises and events, from Formula E to Dockyards, a brand new waterside open air location in the heart of East London, and the Beams, a Centre for New Culture. The ExCel Exhibition Centre is also being expanded with a brand new Eastern extension increasing the venue’s total event space by 25%. Newham benefits from having a very diverse community with an extremely busy and varied events schedule that serves both local and the wider communities in the region, including the oldest faith based street procession in the UK, and a diverse licensed sector of around a thousand premises including a flourishing night time economy.

About the Service

The aim of the team is to improve the quality, safety and standards of licensable activity and public events provided by businesses, event organisers and promoters through the use of a range of intervention strategies, including enforcement, licensing, education, advice and informal action.

About the Role

We are looking to recruit the right person to work in our licensing enforcement team, to undertake licensing compliance and where necessary enforcement work in a permanent position due to a recent successful growth bid. The work will focus on compliance work in respect of the Licensing Act 2003 and the Gambling Act 2005, with visits to and inspections of premises licensed under that legislation. There may also be duties in respect of other types of licensing – for example street trading. The post holder will also be required to make representations regarding licence applications as the responsible public authority and attend licensing committee hearings, and will need to have working knowledge of the relevant legislation and local authority processes and procedures in respect of Licensing, and working knowledge of the Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the rules around the processing and handling of information and evidence – and be able to take a measured, stepped approach to enforcement. Strong communication skills both verbal and written, a positive and constructive attitude to working with a wide range of partners and a desire to problem solve are fundamental prerequisites for the role, as well as holding a full clean driving licence. With a recently introduced pre-application advice service, and a focus on mediation, we are also looking for someone who understands both the expectations of residents and elected Members, as well as being commercially aware of the needs of businesses and the importance of the night time economy and licensed sector.

The work will primarily be 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday but there will also be an element of pre-planned evening work, sometimes in company with Police Licensing colleagues. There may also, on occasion be a need to undertake visits over the weekend, though that will not be a regular occurrence. Flexible working is promoted, however living within a commutable distance is essential.

The role will also support our events enforcement officer and safety advisory group function, so a desire to be trained in events and occupational health and safety would also be beneficial.

For further information, please contact

Edward King, Licensing & Trading Standards Team Leader, edward.king@newham.gov.uk  0203 373 3559