Agenda and minutes

Councillor Alanna Vine (Chair) in the chair; Councillors Stuart Corris and Chris Murphy.

A representative of the Democratic Services Manager advised the Sub-Committee that the applicant had informed the Licensing Authority that they would be unable to attend the hearing, and had requested that the Sub-Committee give consideration to the adjournment of the hearing.

At 6.01 pm it was

RESOLVED – That the meeting be adjourned until 6.00 pm on Monday, 14 May 2018.

The meeting reconvened at 6.00 pm on Monday, 14 May 2018.

Councillor Alanna Vine (Chair) in the chair; Councillors Stuart Corris and Sylvia Humphries.

A representative of the Democratic Services Manager advised the Sub-Committee that one of the parties to the application had informed the Licensing Authority that they would be unable to attend the hearing, and had requested that the Sub-Committee give consideration to the adjournment of the hearing.

At 6.01 pm it was

RESOLVED – (1) That the meeting be adjourned until 1.00 pm on Wednesday, 30 May 2018.

(2) That, it being necessary in the public interest, approval be given to an extension of the time limit provided for in The Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005 for the determination of the application until Wednesday, 30 May 2018.

The meeting reconvened at 1.00 pm on Wednesday, 30 May 2018.

Councillors Dickie Davies, Chris Gordon and Sylvia Humphries.

RESOLVED – That in the absence of the Chair, Councillor Chris Gordon be elected Chair of the Sub-Committee for the duration of the meeting.

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 February 2018.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 19 February 2018 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillors and officers are invited to declare any interests which they have in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

Councillors and officers were invited to declare any interests which they had in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations were made.

Members of the public are invited to put questions to the Chair and members of the Sub-Committee on any matters within the powers and duties of the Sub-Committee, subject to the exclusions set out in the Code of Practice. (Questions must be submitted prior to the commencement of the meeting on the cards provided.  These are available at the meeting).

No public questions were submitted.

To consider whether it is in the public interest to exclude the public during consideration of agenda items 5 (Licensing Act 2003: Application for a Review of the Premises Licence at Best One, Lancashire Hill, Heaton Norris) as the report contained information ‘not for publication’ in accordance with Section 14(2) of The Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005 and where the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of agenda item 5 – ‘Licensing Act 2003: Application for a Review of the Premises Licence at Best One, Lancashire Hill’ to prevent the disclosure of information relating to an individual in accordance with Section 14(2) of The Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005.  It would not, on balance, be in the public interest to disclose this information because disclosure of the personal information would not be fair to the applicant and would breach their data protection rights and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

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

The report details an application received on behalf of the Chief Officer of Greater Manchester Police for a review of the Premises Licence at Best One, Lancashire Hill, Heaton Norris.

The Sub-Committee is recommended to consider the application for the review of the premises licence at Best One.

Officer contact: Peter Cooke on 0161 474 4851 or email: peter.cooke@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) detailing an application received on behalf of the Chief Officer of Greater Manchester Police, being a responsible authority under the Licensing Act 2003, exercising its statutory function to promote the prevention of crime and disorder licensing objective for a review of the Premises Licence at Best One, Lancashire Hill, Heaton Norris.

A representative of the Chief Officer of Greater Manchester Police in addition to the Designated Premises Supervisor and his representative, attended the meeting and answered Councillors’ questions in relation to the application.

The Sub-Committee, having heard the interested parties, proceeded to consider the prevention of crime and disorder 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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.  However, the decision was reached on consideration of all 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 Best One, Lancashire Hill, Heaton Norris made on behalf of the Chief Officer of Greater Manchester Police, the Sub-Committee was satisfied that the premises licence holder had demonstrated its inability to satisfactorily promote the prevention of crime and disorder licensing objective by virtue of the allegations of serious criminal activity made against the Designated Premises Supervisor who was also the owner of the business.  The Sub-Committee further noted that the premises had failed to comply with the condition on the premises licence which stipulated that CCTV images had to be retained for a period of 21 days.

The Sub-Committee was of the view, that on the basis of the evidence presented, it was more likely than not that the Designated Premises Supervisor, as owner of the business, was responsible for the alleged actions and that the effect of these was to seriously undermine the prevention of crime and disorder licensing objective.  The Sub-Committee was also not satisfied that the premises would operate without significant and sustained control on the part of the current Designated Premises Supervisor and business owner should an alternative be appointed in his place as Designated Premises Supervisor.

The Sub-Committee has therefore determined that there were no further conditions that could be imposed which would ameliorate the concerns expressed by the representative of the Chief Officer of Greater Manchester Police, and the suspension of the licence would also fail to adequately promote the licensing objective, and accordingly it was determined that the Premises Licence should be revoked.