notification of chairman and outline of procedure

The Chairman opened the meeting by introducing the Sub-Committee and the Officers present. He then outlined the procedure that would be followed.

declarations of interest

No interests were declared.

part b minutes for information

application for a review of the premises licence for layzells tavern club, the broadway, minster, isle of sheppey, kent under the licensing act 2003

PC Neil Barnes advised the Sub-Committee that the Police had requested a review of the Premises Licence for Layzells Tavern Club following alleged under age sales, failure to comply with the licence conditions, and an increase in crime and disorder incidents.

He provided a summary of the incident on the evening of 23rd/24th January 2010 and referred to the two breaches to the licence conditions, namely the failure of the licensees of the Club to provide CCTV images and the failure of the Club to record the incident in their logbook. He reported that the Police had received an increased number of calls from January - April 2010 and advised that prior to this period the premises had been well managed.

PC Barnes advised that he had met with Mr and Mrs Layzell and Ms Steadman prior to the meeting. As a result of the discussions the Police were proposing an amendment to their recommendation as follows: that condition 22 be amended from a Challenge 21 policy to Challenge 25; that a minimum of three trained door supervisors be employed on Saturdays and a minimum of two on Fridays; that the licensees retake their BII qualifications and that all staff undertake the BII Responsible Alcohol Retailing course. PC Barnes was satisfied that the CCTV had been repaired and reported that the Police had not received any calls to the premises since April 2010. The Police were not therefore recommending that the premises licence be suspended.

Ms Steadman (Christopher Harris Solicitors) spoke on behalf of her clients Mr and Mrs Layzell. In reference to the incident on 23rd/24th January 2010, she advised that none of the bar staff on duty recalled serving the gentleman and questioned whether the gentleman had purchased his drinks himself or whether they had been purchased on his behalf. She considered that much of the evidence regarding the incident was inconclusive and explained that the logbook had not been completed as staff had been concentrating on securing the property and repairing the damage to the fire door.

Ms Steadman advised that the Licensees had chosen to lower the minimum age for entry in January 2010 from 21 to 18 years of age due to a reduction in trade. The Licensees had recognised that this had resulted in an increased number of crime and disorder related incidents and they reinstated the 21 minimum age limit in May 2010. She stressed that many of the incidents had taken place outside of the Club premises, which was outside of the Licensees control, and the logbook was being maintained as per the licence conditions. The Licensees were also interested in joining the Swale Safe scheme.

Mr Plowman, Head of Security at Layzells, explained that as the Club also had a function room attached the premises attracted a lot of parties and was run as a family-friendly venue. He advised that any disturbances in the car park were outside of their control and that the incident log was being kept up-to-date. It was usual for Layzells to employ four door supervisors on Saturday evenings.

The Licensing Sub-Committee adjourned to make their decision at 10.39 am. Members of the Sub-Committee, the Assistant Solicitor and Senior Democratic Services Officer left the meeting and returned at 10:47 am.