Agenda and minutes

The Panel is requested to elect a Chairperson for the hearing in line with rules agreed by the Licensing and Safety Committee. 

The Panel elected Councillor Fearn as Chairperson for this hearing in line with the rules agreed by the Licensing and Safety Committee.

For 23 July 2024, an apology for absence was received from Councillor McDonald, Councillor Sands, as the fourth Member, joined the Panel.

For 20 August 2024, an apology for absence was received from Councillor Sands, Councillor Filmer, as the fourth Member, joined the Panel.

For 3 September 2024 there were no apologies for absence.

For 1 October 2024 there were no apologies for absence.

To agree that the Chairperson, after consultation with the other members of the Panel, sign the record of this meeting outside the meeting. 

It was agreed that the Chairperson, after consultation with the other members of the Panel, would sign the record of this meeting outside the meeting. 

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. 

There were none. 

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 5.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

This report summarises the content of agenda item 7 Appendix D which, in the opinion of the proper officer, contains exempt information within three of the categories in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. It is a matter for the Panel to determine whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of these documents and during the decision making process for the reasons set out in the report.

Decision:

The press and public were excluded from the meeting during the Panel’s deliberations and decision making in respect of agenda item 7 and when considering appendices D, E and F, because consideration of this matter in public would disclosure information falling within paragraph  5 of Part 1, 3 and 5 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as specified in agenda item 6 (Exclusion of the Press and Public) and, in all the circumstances of the case, the Panel considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

In accordance with Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003, the Council has received an application from Home Office Immigration Enforcement, as a responsible authority, for a review of the existing premises license in respect of the Jade Garden, 43 High Street, Chatham, Kent ME4 4EN.

23 July 2024

The Chairperson explained that in the public interest, as the License Holder was unavailable, the Panel unanimously decided to adjourn the hearing until 20 August 2024. 

20 August 2024

The Chairperson explained that in the public interest, as the License Holder wished to appoint a legal representative, the Panel unanimously decided to adjourn the hearing until 3 September 2024.

3 September 2024

On 3 September 2024,The Panel were notified of the late receipt of the Licence Holder’s evidential bundle, but upon hearing submissions from Counsel for the appellant it was understood that whilst the panel's procedure would normally preclude the admission of such evidence, that evidence was potentially substantially probative to the real issue in the case. The Panel were informed that the Home Office had not had sight of this evidence and on further enquiry confirmed that there was insufficient time to review it. The Panel also note that there was insufficient time to review the evidence today. 

The Panel therefore considered the application from Counsel for the appellant to adjourn these proceedings. The Home Office raised no objection to the same. The Panel took the view that it was in the interests of justice and fairness to both parties for the case to be adjourned. However, it issued directions to ensure that the case would proceed on the next occasion. The Panel explained they would only accept evidence outside of these directions in exceptional circumstances. 

The Panel issued the following directions:

1. Licence Holder’s evidential bundle to be served on all parties by 4pm on the 3September 2024.
2. Home Office to serve any reply to all parties by 4pm on the 10 September 2024.
3. Licence Holder to serve any rebuttal evidence by 4pm on the 17September 2024.
4. The next panel hearing to take place on the 1October 2024 at Medway Park. 

1 October 2024

The Chairperson invited everyone present to introduce themselves.

The Licensing Officer informed the Panel that they had received an application from the Home Office for a review of the premises licence for Jade Garden, 43 High Street, Chatham ME4 4EN.  The application related to the licensing objective of preventing crime and disorder objective as upon visiting the premises the Home Office had encountered illegal workers.

The Chairperson invited the Home Office as the applicant for the review to speak in support of their application.  The Chief Immigration Officer explained that employing illegal workers encouraged crime, resulted in businesses not adhering to the rules, impacted workers and their wages and exploited working conditions therefore undermining the licensing objective of preventing crime and disorder.

The Chief Immigration Officer went on to explain that after conducting an intelligence led visit to the premises on 10 December 2023, 5 illegal workers had been discovered and a civil penalty had been issued for one of these workers.

The hearing then moved into closed session for part of the meeting so that supporting evidence provided in Exempt Appendices D, E and F could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 180.