Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Claire Farrier, seconded by Councillor Alison Cornelius nominated by Councillor Zakia Zubairito preside as Chairman for the meeting.

None

The Chairman explained the procedure that would be followed for the meeting.

Prior to the consideration of this item the Sub-Committee were informed that the Licence Premises Holder was not in attendance.  The Sub-Committee therefore opened the meeting and requested that that the Licensing Officer, Responsible Officer and the Applicant confirm:

-       If the Licence Premises Holder was informed of the hearing taking place (today)

-       If the above parties had been in communication with the Licence Premises Holder if regards to their attendance.

The Sub-Committee received confirmation that the Licence Premises had been notified of the hearing taking place and that they had been sent all relevant documentation.   The Sub-Committee noted that the Licence Premises Holder had confirmed via written correspondence that they were not going to attend the meeting. 

The meeting was adjourned at 10:48 in order for the Sub-Committee to consider and determine if the hearing should take place in the absence of the Licence Premises Holder.

The meeting reconvened at 11:03.  The Chair stated that the Sub-Committee had noted the information presented to them in regards to the communication from between the Licence Premises Holder and all relevant authorities which was supplied verbally.   The Chair stated that the Sub-Committee agreed that it was not in the public interest to defer the hearing.  The Sub-Committee also agreed that the authorities had communicated effectively with the Licence Premises Holder.

Therefore the Sub-committee agreed to consider an application for a Review of Premises Licence for Guns and Smoke, Church Parade, Barnet, London, EN5 4QS together with submissions from the Licensing Officer, the responsible officer and the,  Applicant (Police).

RESOLVED that in accordance with regulation 14(2) of the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings and Regulations) 2005 be excluded from the meeting in order for exempt information be considered.

The Sub-Committee deliberated in private session, accompanied by Officers from HB Public Law and the London Borough of Barnet Governance Service.

The Sub-Committee, having considered the application and all verbal and written representations received, agreed unanimouslyRESOLVED:

This is an application for a review of the premises licence for Guns & Smoke, 1b Church Passage, Barnet, London EN5 4QS, under s.51 of the Licensing Act 2003.  The application was made by the Metropolitan Police and relates to all four of the licensing objectives, namely:

·         the prevention of crime and disorder;

·         the protection from children from harm;

·         public safety; and

·         the prevention of public nuisance.

The premises licence holder was not in attendance and the Sub-Committee confirmed with the Licensing Officer and Responsible Authority that the papers for today’s hearing, including the exempt papers, had been served on the Premises Licence Holder.  The Sub-Committee were informed that the Responsible Authority had received an email to the effect that the Licence Holder would not be attending.

The Sub-Committee adjourned the hearing to decide whether or not to continue the hearing in the Licence Holder’s absence and decided to do so, having not been convinced that the public interest would be best served by adjourning today’s hearing.

The Sub-Committee has reviewed and considered the written and oral evidence and representations set out within the papers and put forward by the parties at today’s hearing.

We have heard representations from the Police, the Responsible Authority, the Licensing Team. 

The representations from the Metropolitan Police and the Authority set out numerous reports of breaches of the Licence and poor management since November 2014 that the Sub-Committee will not be setting out in detail here.  Suffice to say that their position, which is broadly consistent with each other, can be summarised as being that there has been a consistent failure by the management to ensure full compliance with the Licence and to address any breaches in a quick and timely manner.  Examples of these breaches include:

·         a failure to ensure the Designated Premises Supervisor and/or a Personal Licence Holder was working on site whilst licensed activities were being carried out, which appears to include confusion by staff working at the premises as to who the DPS actually was at particular times; 

·         a failure to ensure a fully working and Licence compliant CCTV system was operating at the venue;

·         a failure to ensure there were staff present who were able to work the CCTV system;

·         a failure to ensure an incidents log book was kept and maintained;

·         the continuation of licensed activities during times when they were prohibited from carrying out those activities;

·         a failure to ensure the Licence was displayed on the premises; and

·         numerous noise complaints, resulting in the issue of 3 Noise Abatement Notices on 24 December 2014, 11 December 2015 and 31 March 2017.

Upon being questioned by the Sub-Committee, the Police and Responsible Authority confirmed that the two people who they had been consistently dealing with since November 2014 in respect of the management of the premises were Mr Rizwan Ali and Mr Rahil Majeed. 

The Sub-Committee noted that the representations show that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

There were no urgent items.