Agenda and draft minutes

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of interest.

General procedure points and hearing procedure for the meeting.

The Chair outlined the procedure to be followed for the hearing.

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Property and Planning.

The Director of Property and Planning submitted a report to the Licensing Act 2003 Sub-Committee to consider the application made to authorise a performance of hypnotism.

The applicant was unable to attend the hearing but provided written representations which were appended to the agenda.

The Principal Licensing Officer presented the report of the Director of Property and Planning which advised members of an application made to authorise an exhibition, demonstration or performance of hypnotism. The Sub-Committee were required to determine whether to authorise the performance in accordance with the provisions of the Hypnotism Act 1952.

Members were advised that it was a criminal offence to stage an exhibition, demonstration or performance of hypnotism at a location where a premises licence was in force, without authorisation from the Council. The Sub-Committee were made aware that at the Licensing Sub-Committee meeting on 24 April 1996, the decision was made that authorisations for the demonstration or exhibition of hypnotism would normally be refused.

The Principal Licensing Officer advised that on 29 January 2025, an application was made to authorise the performance of Hypnotism at the Bretherton Arms, 252 Eaves Lane, Chorley on 23 March 2025. In support of the application, the applicant provided a copy of his certificate of public liability insurance. This information, along with the general conditions relating to an authorisation of hypnotism were appended to the report.

Members recognised that it had been a long time since an application for stage hypnotism had been received and following queries regarding the decision in 1996 that authorisations for the demonstration of hypnotism would normally be refused, the Sub-Committee were advised that around this time someone had passed away on the same day as being hypnotised. It was understood that the coroner’s findings did not link the cause of death to the act of hypnotism, however there was a campaign surrounding banning stage hypnotism at this time which may have contributed towards the decision.

The Sub-Committee were to be mindful of the amount of time that had passed since this decision and recognised that stage hypnotisms regularly took place around the country. Members were also reminded that the Licensing Act 2003 came into force in 2005 which meant that the structure around councils regulating entertainment since, had changed.

According to the information provided in the report, the applicant had performed thousands of hypnotism shows throughout his 27-year career and Members were advised that the applicant continued to perform consistently, both in the UK and abroad. The Sub-Committee noted that as well as having 27 years’ experience in performing stage hypnotisms, the applicant was also a Member of the Federation of Ethical Stage Hypnotists since 1993, which had an additional code of conduct.

The Sub-Committee queried whether anything had been reported from the other authorities where the applicant had previously been granted permission which could cause concern. The Principal Licensing Officer advised that he had requested this information from the authority where the applicant’s most recent performance had taken place, but he had not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.17