Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee A held on 21 June 2018 as published.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Sub-Committee held on 21 June 2018 be approved and signed as a true and correct record.

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary and other interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

There were no Declarations of Interest.

To consider any business that the Chairman rules may be dealt with under Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

Reporting Officer – Matt Cobb

The Sub-Committee had before it a report regarding an application by Surrey Police for a Review of the Premises Licence held by Harry’s Store, 2 Walton Road, Woking.  Peter Savill of Counsel, Sergeant James Wyatt and Geanine Crowley attended the meeting to represent Surrey Police.  Representations had been received from Trading Standards and Woking Borough Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Officer, Emma Ibrahim, who was also in attendance.  The Premises Licence Holder, Pavendeep Dhesi and her father, Sarwan Dhesi attended the meeting to represent Harry’s Store. 

All parties present had a copy of the Licensing Committee’s agreed procedure to be followed at Licensing Sub-Committee hearings.  The Chairman introduced Members of the Sub-Committee and outlined the order of speaking which would be followed at the hearing.

The Licensing Authority’s representative, Matthew Cobb, advised the Sub-Committee that in the report the current licensed hours of operation were set out at paragraph 2.2.  An error was noted for the sale of alcohol on Sunday as the opening hours were from 10.00 hours to 22.00 hours.  The Committee was referred to paragraph 7.4 which set out the options for the Sub-Committee in determining the matter.  The Police had no questions for Mr Cobb.  Following a question by Ms Dhesi, it was noted that the original licence passed to the Store contained an end time for the sale of alcohol of 23.00 hours, however the error had recently been corrected and was not a matter for the Sub-Committee to consider at the hearing.

The Chairman gave Mr Savill the opportunity to address the Sub-Committee.  Mr Savill referred to the guidance from the Secretary of State on the Licensing Act 2003, which stated that Licensing Authorities had a duty to take steps to promote the licensing objectives in the interests of the wider community.  The selling of alcohol to minors was stated to be an offence for which revocation of a premises licence should be considered, even in the first instance.  He stated that Harry’s Store had sold alcohol to minors on three occasions which had led Surrey Police to recommend that the Premises Licence should be revoked.  In addition, he stated that a number of the conditions set out on the licence had been breached for which there was no excuse, such as training records, refusal log and incident log.  Mr Savill concluded by stating there had been a root and branch failure at Harry’s Store and urged the Sub-Committee to revoke the licence.

The Premises Licence Holder had no questions for Surrey Police.

Councillor Eastwood referred to the refusals log which had been completed by someone who did not work at the store and Ms Dhesi stated that it was a family friend who had been assisting her parents as their English was not good.  Councillor Eastwood stated that the log had not been filled in comprehensively and it would not enable staff to again recognise someone who had been refused alcohol due to their age.

The Chairman gave Ms Dhesi the opportunity to address  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Reporting Officer – Matt Cobb

The Sub-Committee had before it a report regarding an application by Surrey Police for a Review of the Premises Licence held by Budgens, 1 Chertsey Road, Woking.  Peter Savill of Counsel and Geanine Crowley attended the meeting to represent Surrey Police.  A representation had also been received from Trading Standards.  A representation in support of Budgens had been received from Welcome Skills. 

The Premises Licence Holder, Nurul Islam, was not in attendance at the hearing.  The Council’s Solicitor, Joanne McIntosh, advised the Sub-Committee that a representation had been received a few days before stating that Mr Islam could not attend due to a medical appointment with a nurse at town centre based surgery at 10.30am.  No reason for the medical appointment being the same day as the hearing had been given, and Mr Islam had previously been informed of the start time for the hearing which was midday.  The Sub-Committee was advised that it could proceed in Mr Islam’s absence or adjourn to a future date.  Both the Licensing Authority and Surrey Police expressed the view they wished to proceed in absence.  The Sub-Committee agreed that the hearing should proceed in his absence.

All parties present had a copy of the Licensing Committee’s agreed procedure to be followed at Licensing Sub-Committee hearings.  The Chairman introduced Members of the Sub-Committee and outlined the order of speaking which would be followed at the hearing.

The Licensing Authority’s representative, Matthew Cobb, advised the Sub-Committee that in the report the current licensed hours of operation were set out at paragraph 2.2.  An error was noted for the sale of alcohol on Sunday, as the opening hours were from 10.00 hours to 22.00 hours.  The Committee was referred to paragraph 7.4 which set out the options for the Sub-Committee in determining the matter.  The Police had no questions for Mr Cobb. 

The Chairman gave Mr Savill the opportunity to address the Sub-Committee.  Mr Savill referred to the guidance from the Secretary of State on the Licensing Act 2003, which stated that Licensing Authorities had a duty to take steps to promote the licensing objectives in the interests of the wider community.  The selling of alcohol to minors was stated to be an offence for which revocation of a premises licence should be considered, even in the first instance.  He stated that Budgens had sold alcohol to minors on three occasions which had led Surrey Police to recommend that the Premises Licence should be revoked.  It was added that Budgens had not taken its responsibilities seriously with no training having taken place between failed test purchases, mention of a rogue employee in a representation received from the store, and breaches of licensing conditions.  Mr Savill referred to the three failed test purchases and urged the Sub-Committee to revoke the licence.

Councillor Eastwood referred to the representation from Surrey Police which stated that during a visit on 6 April 2018 it was found that there were no training records for any staff and that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.