Agenda item

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration.

The report details an application by Stockport Council (Licensing Authority) for the Review of a Premises Licence Under the Licensing Act 2003 for Raja Bros, 296 Gorton Road, Reddish based on the premises' failure to support the Protection of Children from Harm licensing objective.

The Sub-Committee is recommended to consider the application for a review of the premises licence at Raja Bros, 296 Gorton Road, Reddish.

Officer contact: Caitriona Muldoon on 474 4162 or email caitriona.muldoon@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) detailing an application made by a representative of the Stockport Licensing Authority being a responsible authority under the Licensing Act 2003 exercising its statutory function to protect children from harm, for a review of the Premises Licence at Raja Bros, 296 Gorton Road, Reddish.

A representative of the Stockport Licensing Authority and a representative of the Chief Officer of Greater Manchester Police, having made a relevant representation, in addition to the Premises Licence Holder and his representative, attended the meeting and answered Councillors’ questions in relation to the application.

Following discussions between the various parties to the application, a schedule of conditions and amendments to the licence had been agreed upon which was submitted to the Sub-Committee for approval.

The Sub-Committee, having heard the interested parties, proceeded to consider the protection of children from harm licensing objective in respect of the application, together with the relevant parts of the Council’s Licensing Policy and the guidance from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.  However, the decision was reached on consideration of all the arguments given in relation to this specific application.

It was then

RESOLVED - That having heard the application for a review of the premises licence at Raja Bros, 296 Gorton Road, Reddish made by a representative of the Stockport Licensing Authority, and as supported by a representative of the Chief Officer of Greater Manchester Police, and having considered all the evidence presented, the Sub-Committee was satisfied that the premises had demonstrated its inability to satisfactorily address the protection of children from harm licensing objective by virtue of the evidenced cases whereby the premises had sold alcohol on three occasions to underage patrons.

However, the Sub-Committee noted with approval the content of the proposed schedule of conditions and amendments to the licence that had been agreed between the licensee and the Licensing Authority, and gave approval to the following:-

(1) That a digital hard drive CCTV system shall be in operation to cover internal and external areas of the premises. Any area where customers have legitimate access must be sufficiently illuminated for the purposes of CCTV. All CCTV recorded images shall have sufficient clarity / quality / definition to enable facial recognition. CCTV shall be kept in an unedited format for a period of 30 days, any DVD's/USB or other media devices subsequently produced shall be in a format so it can be played back on a standard personal computer or standard DVD player. Any person left in charge of the premises must be trained in the use of any such CCTV equipment and able to produce / download / burn CCTV images upon request by a person from a responsible authority. CCTV shall be maintained on a regular basis and kept in good working order.

(2) That a refusals book to be kept and used.  All staff to be instructed on how to correctly fill in the book. Accurate records to be kept including time and date of attempted sale, item attempted purchase, description of person and reason for refusal. To be regularly checked by the DPS and signed off.

(3) That staff will be required to phone the police to report alcohol related incidents (for example youths congregating at the front of the premises and encouraging adult to purchase alcohol on their behalf). The premises and management will maintain an incident book that will be kept on the premises to record any incidents or disturbance at the premises. The police are to be informed of any serious incidents or incident to form the basis of a prosecution, either, inside or immediately outside the premises - depending on the urgency of the incident, staff should consider contacting 999 or reporting the incident to the local neighbourhood policing team on 101. The copies of the incident are to be made available to the police on demand.

(4) That a Challenge 25 scheme shall be operated at the premises. The only form of valid identification being passport, photo driving licence or identification that displays a holographic mark issued by a government authorised body / agency. Notices shall be displayed in prominent positions at the premises indicating that the challenge 25 Policy is in force. All staff shall be trained and shall undergo regular refresher training from a personal licence holder in respect of the challenge 25 policy and forms of acceptable ID, age identification, awareness/prevention of proxy sales. Such training sessions shall be recorded in a training book which shall include a record of each member of staff together with the date the training took place, the details of the training provided and the name of the personal licence holder providing the training.  The training book shall be kept on the premises and made available upon request to responsible authorities upon request. Training shall be refreshed every 3 to 4 months.

(5) That the current Designated Premises Supervisor be removed and replaced by no later than 31 January 2015.

(6) That the hours for the supply of alcohol by retail sale for consumption off the premises be amended to reduce the approved hours from 06.00 to 21.00 hours Monday to Sunday to 12.00 to 21.00 hours Monday to Sunday.