The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report on a application for a review of an existing premises licence.
Minutes:
Councillor Pickering, as Chair welcomed all to the Committee and outlined the proceedings of the hearing.
The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a report
on an application for the review of an existing premises licence for Courtyard Bar and Restaurant, Churchgate, Leicester.
The Premises Licence Holder, The Designated Premises Supervisor and their legal representative were in attendance. Also present was PC Pritchard from Leicestershire Police, the Licensing Team Manager (Policy and Applications) and the Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee.
The Licensing Team Manager (Policy and Applications) presented the report and outlined details of the application.
PC Pritchard was given the opportunity to outline the details of the representation from the Police and answered questions from Members of the Sub-Committee.
The applicants were given the opportunity to address the Sub-Committee and answered questions from the and Members.
All parties present were then given the opportunity to sum up their positions
and make any final comments.
The Sub-Committee received legal advice from the Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee in the presence of all those present and were advised of the options
available to them in making their decision. The Sub-Committee were also
advised of the relevant policy and statutory guidance that needed to be taken
into account when making their decision.
In reaching their decision, Members felt they should deliberate in private on the
basis that this was in the public interest, and as such outweighed the public
interest of their deliberation taking place with the parties represented present,
in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005.
The Chair announced that the decision and reasons would be announced in writing within five working days. The Chair informed the meeting that the Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee would be called back to give advice on the wording of the decision.
The Chair then informed the meeting that all but the Democratic Support
Officers should withdraw from the room. The Sub-Committee then deliberated
in private to consider their decision.
The Sub-Committee recalled the Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee to give advice on the wording of the decision.
RESOLVED:
That the Premises licence be modified:
In reviewing the Premises Licence, the Sub-Committee considered the Licensing Officer’s Report and all the representations, both written and oral. The Sub-Committee took account of the Statutory Guidance, the Regulators’ Code, and the Council’s Licensing Policy.
The Review application engaged the licensing objectives relating to the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety and the prevention of public nuisance.
Following engagement between the parties, eighteen conditions had been agreed and committee was jointly invited by the parties to modify the conditions of the licence.
Members of the sub-committee confirmed that they had not taken anything put before them on face value and that they had scrutinised all of the information and evidence in detail
The sub-committee considered each of the options available to them and concluded:
That the representations by Leicestershire Police engaged 3 of the 4 licensing objectives and the sub-committee concluded that it was appropriate and proportionate in light of Licensing objectives to Modify the conditions of the licence as set out below:
The reasons are as follows:
1. The sub-committee were satisfied that the cause or causes of the concerns which gave rise to this application for review would be addressed by the agreed conditions
2. The sub-committee were satisfied that following initial issues there had been good engagement between the parties and that the premise licence holder had demonstrated a good understanding of what was needed to put matters right and action had already been taken to comply with the agreed conditions
3. The sub-committee felt that it was important that there was a consistency of security staff at the premises and that premises licence holder and designated premises supervisor work with the police to ensure this is given priority
4. The sub-committee advises the premises licence holder to acknowledge this outcome as a warning shot across the bow
Modified conditions:
Courtyard Bar & Venue New Conditions.
(1) The licence holder shall ensure that the premises is a member of Leicester City Watch and possess an operational retail radio whilst the premises is open to the public.
(2) The licence holder shall ensure that at least two operational body worn camera are deployed at the premises whilst the premises is open to the public between 11pm and 10am and worn by a member of staff or security staff.
(3) The licence holder shall ensure body worn camera footage in both an audio and visual format is available to an officer from a responsible authority within seven days of a request.
(4) A trained member of staff must be on the premises or available to be called upon during the hours that the premises is open to the public, who is able to operate the premises CCTV system and provide viewable images to an officer from a responsible authority.
(5) The licence holder shall ensure the premises CCTV is provided to an officer from a responsible authority in a viewable downloaded/uploaded format within fourteen days of being requested.
(6) The licence holder must routinely inspect the CCTV system and report any faults to Leicestershire Police Licensing Department on – licensing@leics.police.uk (or any future different email address) within 7 days.
(7) The licence holder shall ensure that at least one additional colour, high-definition CCTV camera is installed at the premises, which permits the identification of an individual in any lighting conductions. The camera(s) view must be free of obstructions.
(8) The licence holder shall ensure that all Security Industry Authority (SIA) front line door supervisors or other persons engaged at the premises for the purpose of supervising or controlling queues or customers, wear high visibility SIA badge arm bands whilst on duty.
(9) The licence holder shall ensure Security Industry Authority (SIA) front line door supervisors are provided with radios to enable them to contact each other and duty manager at the premises.
(10) The licence holder will provide full details (full name, date of birth and Security Industry Authority (SIA) badge number) of all front line door supervisors and others engaged at the premises for the purpose of supervising or controlling queues/customers (paid or not) to Leicestershire Police Licensing Department on licensing@leics.police.uk (or any future email different email address) within 48 hours of their deployment. The date/time of their deployment must also be included. Thereafter the licence holder will notify any changes of door staff not already communicated.
(11) No customer(s) will be permitted to enter or re-enter the premises between 5am and 10am, save for persons who have temporarily left the premises to smoke/vape.
Courtyard Bar & Venue New Conditions.
(12) Drinks must only be served in plastic or polycarbonate containers between 11pm and 10am excluding any private parties/functions where the public are excluded.
(13) An incident and refusals (that result into an incident) log will be kept on the premises and retained for a period of 12 months from the date of the incident. Entries must be made as soon as possible after the incident but no later than 24 hours after the event. Details to include date/time, summary of the incident, description of the person involved, name of the person involved, the outcome of the incident and who dealt with the incident. The log on completion will be made immediately available for inspection on request of an officer from a responsible authority.
(14) The licence holder shall ensure a person with a valid personal licence issued by a Local Authority is working at the premises, whether paid or voluntary, whilst alcohol is being sold or offered for sale between 11pm and 6am.
Remove existing CCTV licence conditions with Annex 2 & 3 and amend to below –
(15) A high definition, colour, HD CCTV camera system shall be installed at the premises, operational and recording whilst the premises is open to the public. The system must permit the identification of individual(s) in all lighting conditions.
(16) CCTV cameras must cover all areas that the public have access to, including the entrance, exit and to a reasonable extent the licensable area.
(17) The CCTV system images must be securely stored, display an accurate date/time stamp and retained for a minimum of 31 days.
(18) The licence holder shall ensure the premises CCTV is provided to an officer from a responsible authority in a downloadable/uploaded and viewable format within seven days of being requested.
5. The condition which we have added will address that licensing objective relating to the prevention of public nuisance. We also believe the added condition will address the cause of the concerns which led to the application for a review being submitted.
6. Additionally, we advise the Premises Licence Holder to consider building an internal door and create a lobby in order to prevent noise breakout
Supporting documents: