Agenda and minutes

The sub-committee nominated Councillor Whyborn as Chair of the meeting.

There were no apologies.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair explained that the meeting was to be held under exempt conditions in case information relating to any individual was disclosed and because the case was subject to a criminal investigation which could be compromised. In the interest of transparency, however, they would determine how much of the minutes could be made public following the meeting.

The Licensing Officer proceeded to introduce the report which had been circulated with the agenda, he explained that an application had been made on the 30^th July 2018 by Cheltenham Borough Council, as the licensing authority, to review the premises licenceof St James Store, 22 St. James Street, Cheltenham.

He advised that the grounds for review were as a result of a visit by the Home Office’s Immigration Compliance & Enforcement Team to St James Store on Tuesday 26 June 2018. The visit was following intelligence received that an illegal worker was employed by the premises. He confirmed that during the visit, one male was arrested on the premises for Immigration Offences and the premises was issued with a Civil Penalty Notice.

He reminded Members that they must take into account all the available evidence that gives an indication of how the premises are being operated, particularly in relation to crime and disorder and must take the necessary steps as it considers appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives. Taking this into consideration they had the option to:

·           Modify the conditions of the premises licence;

·           Exclude a licensable activity from the scope of the licence;

·           Remove the designated premises supervisor;

·           Suspend the licence for a period not exceeding three months; or

·           Revoke the licence.

Louis Krog acting on behalf of the applicant (Cheltenham Borough Council) was then invited to present his case. He advised that as a licensing authority they had taken the view that any licensed premises found to be operating in such a way that it is not complying with its statutory obligations, in this case immigration law, they would apply for a review of the licence. This would give the committee an opportunity to make a determination on whether the licence and its conditions remain sufficiently robust for the purpose of promoting the licensing objectives.

He reported that, unless the matters are so serious that there is no option but to revoke or suspend a licence, which he didn’t believe was the case in this instance, the aim was to get all licensed venues to a place where they operate in a compliant and lawful way. He confirmed that he had had a meeting with the licence holder’s agent, at their request, to discuss the steps they had taken since the incident to give assurance that moving forward they will be operating in a way that will be compliant with legal requirements and promote the licensing objectives. He confirmed that he was personally satisfied that the steps taken since the incident were sufficient to address any concerns that he had which led to the review application.

The Licence  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.