Agenda and minutes

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

Councillor  Mrs Chambers was elected Chairman for this meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Prenter, with Councillor Mrs Turpin substituting as the fourth, substitute Member of the Panel.

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

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

This meeting is being held urgently as the Licensing Act 2003 requires expedited premises licence review applications to be considered within 48 hours, pending a full hearing of the issues within 28 days of the date that the application was served.

The meeting was held urgently as the Licensing Act 2003 required expedited premises licence review applications to be considered within 48 hours, pending a full hearing of the issues within 28 days of the date that the application was served.

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.

It is recommended that the Panel exclude the press and public from the meeting 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 consideration of the exempt appendices in respect of agenda item 7, because consideration of this matter in public would disclosure information falling within paragraphs 1,5 and 7 of Part 1 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.

An application has been received from Kent Police for an Expedited Review of the premises licence at Fleur De Lis, 46 Gillingham Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 4RR. The Act requires expedited premises licence review applications to be considered within 48 hours, pending a full hearing of the issues within 28 days of the date that the application was served.

Discussion

The Chairman asked the Licensing Manager to outline the matter before the Panel. The Licensing Manager stated that, in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, the Council had received an application for an expedited review from Kent Police in relation to the premises licence for Fleur De Lis, 46 Gillingham Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 4RR, as the premises had been associated with serious crime and disorder. She explained that the Licensing Act 2003 required expedited premises licence review applications to be considered within 48 hours, pending a full review hearing within 28 days of the date that the application was served.

The Licensing Manager stated that the purpose of the hearing was for the Panel to determine what interim steps to take, pending the full review hearing, and explained that the options were:

(a)       the modification of the conditions of the premises licence;

(b)       the exclusion of the sale of alcohol by retail from the scope of the licence;

(c)       the removal of the designated premises supervisor from the licence;

(d)       the suspension of the licence.

The following documents were included in the main agenda pack: -

• Appendix A - pages 15 to 16, The Certificate
• Appendix B – page 17 to 20, The Application for Summary Review

PC Hill explained that an incident of serious crime and disorder had occurred at the premises on Sunday 19 July for which there was an ongoing investigation. Two offences were being investigated in relation to the incident, the first being an assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) and the second more serious assault occasioning grievous bodily harm (GBH). In addition, the crime scene had been cleaned by staff at the premises following the incidents.

The Panel was shown CCTV footage of the two incidents. PC Hill confirmed that there was an ongoing criminal investigation into the assaults. Based primarily on what had occurred during these incidents, Kent Police were concerned that other incidents could be occurring at the pub and not being reported. The Police were therefore seeking suspension of the premises license for 28 days pending a full review of the licence. It was not considered that modification of the conditions of the premises licence would be sufficient to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. It was also considered that the removal of the designated premises supervisor from the licence would not be sufficient as it would effectively still be the same people running the premises.

Mr Smith, the Premises Licence Holder, questioned the Police representatives to ask why no statements had been taken by the Police on the day of the incidents. PC Cosser advised that witnesses at the scene had said that no incident had taken place and therefore, witness statements had not been taken. PC Hill confirmed this statement.   

In response to questions from members of the Panel, the Police advised that there had been a previous incident at the Fleur De Lis on 4 July. The Police had not been called but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115.