Agenda, decisions and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the meeting of the Sub Committee.

Nominations for a Chairman of the Licensing Sub Committee were sought and it was

Resolved:

To elect Councillor Peter Hutton as Chairman for this meeting only.

To receive any apologies for absence and to note any substitutions.

Cllr Stewart Palmen was substituting for Cllr Ian Thorn.

The Chairman explained the procedure to be followed at the hearing, as contained within the “Wiltshire Licensing Committee Procedural Rules for the Hearing of Licensing Act 2003 Applications” (Pages 5 – 12 of the Agenda refers).

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

To agree that in accordance with section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in Item no. 7 because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

Paragraph 1 - Information relating to an individual

Resolved:

That the public be excluded from the meeting to prevent the disclosure of information relating to an individual in accordance with Section 14(2) of The Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005. It would not, on balance, be in the public interest to disclose this information because disclosure of the personal information would not be fair to the applicant and would breach their data protection rights and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

To consider and determine an Application for a Personal Licence.  The report of Carla Adkins (Public Protection Officer – Licensing) is attached. 

Application for a Personal Licence

Carla Adkins (Public Protection Officer – Licensing) introduced the purpose and scope of the application and the key issues for consideration.  Carla highlighted the following:

·        This was an application for a Personal Licence made in accordance with Section 117 of the Licensing Act 2003;

·        As the Applicant had been convicted of a “relevant” offence the Local Authority notified the Chief Officer of Wiltshire Police to that effect in accordance with Section 120 (4); and

·        Wiltshire Police duly gave notice of objection on 11 April 2018 to the personal licence application on the basis that the granting of a personal licence to an individual with such convictions would undermine the licensing objective – the prevention of crime and disorder.

The Chairman wished to clarify the following questions with Wiltshire Police:

Q   If a Personal Licence was to be granted would the Applicant have to make a separate application to be a Designed Premises Supervisor (DPS) for the premises they are currently employed at?

A    Yes, if it was an existing premise, they would need to apply to Vary the DPS and because of the relevant offences, Wiltshire Police would be notified of any relevant offences of the Applicant, following which they would issue an objection notice which would require a hearing by the Licensing Sub Committee.

Q   If a Personal Licence was to be granted would that follow the Applicant in whichever premises they might be employed?

A    Yes, a Personal Licence follows a person and is valid in England and Wales.

In accordance with the procedure detailed in the agenda, the Applicant and Wiltshire Police (Responsible Authority) were given the opportunity to address the Sub Committee.

Key points raised by the Applicant, were:

• My life is in a different place now, and although I knew that convictions take time to become “spent”, I was under the impression that this time had now passed;

• I have made mistakes but I am now married and settled down.  I have the support of the community in this venture and I wish to move forward and better myself.  I have been in full time employment since 2011 and I am now a Head Chef having worked my way up.  I did run my own kitchen and the opportunity arose to run a pub and we agreed to take it on so that it didn’t close;

• Myself and my partner have both carried out the Personal Licence course and I wanted to do this for my own self achievement; and

• I was advised that that I would be better off making this application later next year when my conviction would become spent and I did ask if I had anything to lose by making my application now.  If I fail, I will apply again as I am trying to move forward with my life.

The Sub Committee members then asked the Applicant the following question:

Q        Have you got any experience/completed any training in relation to      running and managing a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.