Agenda item

The purpose of this report is to present the Medway Police compliance and enforcement report on licensing matters to the Licensing and Safety Committee and for members to ask the police representative questions and make comments. 

Discussion:

The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager welcomed DC Gill Angus to the meeting to present the police’s annual licensing enforcement report to the committee. She outlined a number of areas including:

·        There had been a re-structure within Kent Police in November 2012, as a result Divisional Licensing Units (DLU) were formed. The North Division Unit was responsible for 1908 licensed premises across Dartford, Gravesend, Medway and Swale and much of the work around licensed premises was of a reactive nature.

·        The Unit also worked proactively and there had been occasions when licensing officers had witnessed incidents at certain premises, which were dealt with by the licensing officer in attendance.

·        Much of the work carried out by the North DLU fell under compliance, officers were able to provide support and effectively promote the licensing objectives. However there were occasions when enforcement was necessary, this was seen as a last resort.

·        Medway had a high turnover of licence holders (72) in the last financial year and 111 changes in Designated Premises Supervisors. The North DLU ensured that they visited any premises where such change had occurred, which enabled the North DLU to discuss the expectations of the licence holder and of the Designated Premises Supervisor.

·        Every two weeks, in partnership with the local authority, premises where changes had occurred were visited to show licence holders and designated premises supervisors that the North DLU worked closely with the local authority to promote the licensing objectives.

·        Visits to all licensed premises were prioritised based on a continued intelligence based assessment and Police officers inform the North DLU of any problem premises and these would be prioritised for visits.

·        Multi-agency working had shown benefits and helped ensure that licensed premises in Medway were properly managed. As a consequence the number of people wanting to gain a licensing qualification had increased.

·        There had been 373 temporary event notices (TENs) issued in Medway during the past year. This was considered high in comparison with 202 in Dartford, 196 in Gravesend and 338 in Swale.

·        The North DLU also reviewed a number of other applications relating to minor variations, changes of Designated Premises Supervisors or transfers of premise licences.

·        The North DLU reviewed every call to the Police call taking system (Storm) relating to licensed premises on a daily basis. An email report was then prepared outlining incidents that had occurred and a copy of this email was sent to the local authority.

·        Some licensed premises also provide information to the North DLU to assist the Police in collating information on any incidents that had occurred.

·        The North DLU worked closely with partner agencies in Medway and participated in a number of partnership groups.

·        The North DLU had also participated in a number of joint operations organised by the local authority and Kent Trading Standards. The North DLU were made aware, in particular, of all UK Border Agency (UKBA) visits and the removal of those individuals who had been working illegally.

·        The North DLU participated in the Safer Medway Partnership which ensured that all licensed premises were aware of persons that had been required to leave the area under a Section 27 dispersal notice.

·        Since the restructure in November 2012 the North DLU have had the chance to go and observe the behaviour of individuals on a Friday and Saturday night.

·        Licensed premises that used a Temporary Event Notices were required to continue to abide by the conditions of their licence. Non-licensed premises were given advice and guidance in relation to the licensing objectives and expectations of running a safe event.

·        The Police had no powers in relation to noise legislation, however the North DLU was happy to give advice to licence holders about reducing noise levels.

·        Noise from smoking areas was still an issue, however the North DLU had worked with licence holders to voluntarily restrict the number of people at one time going outside to smoke and prohibiting them from taking their drinks outside.

·        The Police wished to continue to work with partners and licensees to ensure that Medway is an area that people wished to visit.

Members welcomed the report and DC Gill Angus responded to questions raised as follows:

·         Although there had been a number of changes to Designated Premises Supervisors of licensed premises in Medway, there had been little movement by licensees within Medway.

·        That the Licensing Hearing Panel had the power to hear any representations about a licensed premises.

·        That the North DLU considered each licence application on its individual merits and ensured that conditions in the licence met the four licensing objectives and helped the premises operate successfully.

·        That door staff at licensed premises were trained to be aware of anyone who seemed as if they were unable to look after themselves, in particular, large groups and ensuring that drinks were not served to individuals who were intoxicated. The North DLU was working with licence holders to ensure all staff had the required training to deal with these situations.

·        That Operation Unite enabled agencies to look at all licensed premises in a single ward. Two such operations were proposed within the next six months in two wards in Medway.  A number of issues would be considered including licensing offences, food hygiene and health and safety.

·        Incidents occurring between 1am and 3am were generally as a result of venues closing, people moving between venues and, on occasions, domestic violence between people who were making their way home.

·        It was considered that staggering the closing times of venues had assisted in preventing patrons leaving individual premises at the same time and this had reduced the risk of violence.

·        The first Alcohol Ban Order had recently been issued which ensured that the person in question would not be allowed into any licensed premises for a year.

·         Approximately 230-240 dispersal notices had been issued within the last year.

A member raised concerns that they were aware of some premises receiving warnings from the Police for minor infringements, in particular with regard to incorrectly displaying their licence and suggested that such issues would be better dealt with in a newsletter reminding licensees of their responsibilities. The Licensing and Local Land Charges Manager confirmed that the local authority was exploring the possibility of licences being register on the Council’s website. This would enable licensees to receive a newsletter via email.

Decision:

The Licensing and Safety Committee noted the report and thanked DC Gill Angus and the North DLU for their work as set out in the report.