Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were intimated from Councillors Mary-Jean Devon, George Freeman, Alex McNaughton and James McQueen.

None declared.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.  Thereafter the Chair outlined the procedure that would be followed and invited the Applicant to speak in support of his Application.

 

Applicant

 

Mr Burn referred to his previous convictions which he had detailed on his application form.  He advised that these convictions happened a long time ago when he was young and he was mixed up with the wrong people.  He acknowledged that the offences were serious and that he had plead guilty to these and accepted his punishment.  He advised that he has turned his life around since then and has been in no further trouble with the Police.  He confirmed that he has held a number of tattoo licences for various places around Scotland and all over England.  He advised that he is a different person to that of 25 years ago.  He advised that his family used to visit Campbeltown for holidays and that he moved to the area 8 years ago and his son has attended school in Campbeltown and that he has family in Campbeltown and Inveraray.  He advised that he has worked all over Scotland alongside other good tattoo artists.  He advised that he has a large and loyal client base, some from as far as Australia and Canada.  He advised that if he was granted this licence this would be good for the economy of Campbeltown as visitors to his shop from far afield would need accommodation in the area.  He advised that he would be employing a receptionist to work in his shop and in time hoped to employ an apprentice.  He advised that he has invested a lot of time and money into this venture and he hoped that the Committee would not judge him on his previous convictions which were a long time ago and be believed that these were now spent.

 

The Chair invited Members to ask questions.

 

Members’ Questions

 

Councillor MacDougall referred to the licence covering skin piercing and tattooing and noted that Mr Burn had only ticked off tattooing on his application form and asked if he would be carrying out skin piercing.  Mr Burn confirmed that he would not be carrying out skin piercing.

 

Councillor MacMillan asked if there was any age restrictions and Mr Burn confirmed that you had to be over 18 years of age to get a tattoo and that this would be displayed clearly in his shop.  He also confirmed that customers would be asked to fill out a medical questionnaire in order to establish if they had any allergies or were taking any medication.

 

Councillor Taylor asked if Mr Burn followed a Code of Practice and Mr Burn advised that there was no Code of Practice for tattoo artists and that the profession was self regulating.

 

Mr Forrester advised that he was not sure if there was a Code of Practice but confirmed that if the licence was granted there would be attached to this a list of conditions that Mr Burn would have to adhere to.

 

Councillor Taylor asked if Mr Burn had sterilising equipment and Mr Burn advised that everything used on the customer would be disposable and that no sterilisation would be required.

 

Councillor Kinniburgh referred to Mr Burn’s licence granted from Reading Council and asked if Mr Burn still did work in that area.  Mr Burn advised that he had left this licence open as he did visit a friend’s business down there from time to time as a guest tattooist.  He confirmed that licences issued by Reading Council were permanent.  He advised that it was good to keep licences going for other areas as this enabled him to attend conventions across the country.

 

Councillor Currie asked for clarification on whether or not Mr Burn’s convictions were spent.  Mr Reppke advised that may be the case for some but for the purposes of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 all previous convictions should be declared on the application form.

 

Councillor Taylor asked if reports from other Council departments had been obtained.  Mr Forrester confirmed that Environmental Health, the Police and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue had all been consulted and no comments had been returned.

 

The Chair invited the Applicant to sum up.

 

Sum Up

 

Mr Burn advised that his convictions were 24 and 30 years ago and that he was a different person now and that he classed himself as a professional and that he would run his business professionally and would not do anything to jeopardise this.

 

Debate

 

Councillor Colville advised that he had no problem with this application that it was an innovative idea for Campbeltown and he hoped that it would be successful.

 

Decision

 

Agreed to grant a Tattooing License to Mr Burn.

 

(Reference: Report by Head of Governance and Law, submitted)