Agenda item

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 be discussed.

In summing up the Chief Immigration Officer explained that the use of illegal workers was a criminal activity which should be treated seriously, and it undermines the prevention of crime and disorder. They informed the Panel that they believe the premises licence holders had consistently failed to uphold the licensing objective to prevent crime and disorder and were seeking a revocation of the premises licence.

Mr Shepheard summed up by saying that the premises licence holders had clearly had a shock from the intervention by immigration enforcement and do now appreciate they were not allowed to help people in a difficult position as they had when immigration officers visited. He stated that they were determined to uphold the licensing objectives, and that revocation of the premises licence would be disproportionate when only 1 person was found to be unlawfully employed.

With the exception of the Legal Representative and the Democratic Services Officer, all present left the room during the Panel’s deliberations, returning to hear the Panel’s decision.

Decision:

The Panel had carefully considered the written application and objections and had listened to all the oral submissions from the applicant for the review, the Licence Holders and legal representatives in relation to the Premises Licence.

The Licensing Hearing Panel unanimously decided to suspend the premises licence for a period of 3 months and during the 3 month period the premises licence holders must undertake further training on Licensing objectives with a licensed training provider. Evidence of completion of the training must be provided to the Licensing Team before the end of the 3 month suspension period.

The Licensing Hearing Panel also recommended that the premises licence holders undertook training on employment law and immigration rules and regulations and make use of the ACAS Employers helpdesk to do so.