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 Ian Thorn as Chairman for this meeting only.

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

There were none.

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

To consider and determine an Application by Wiltshire Police for a Review of the Premises Licence in respect of @Home, 5 Bridge Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 2ND made by Wiltshire Police.

Review Application made by Wiltshire Police in respect of @Home, 5 Bridge Street, Salisbury, SP1 2ND

The Chairman explained that the Police had made a request to hold part of the hearing in a closed session.

The Panel discussed the request, and it was noted that it was made from an ongoing criminal investigation point of view. Part of the evidence contained confidential CCTV footage, and therefore so not to undermine the evidence and to protect the anonymity of the children and family involved in the investigation that part of the hearing was required to be held in closed session.

Mr Leo Charalambides acting as Legal counsel on behalf of the License holder Miss Louella Adamson noted his concern in relation to any new undisclosed evidence being presented for consideration, without he and his client being able to consider it first.

He had no objection to the CCTV footage of the family being shown in the closed session.  He drew attention to para 11.15 which detailed the requirement for the applicant and representative to have all evidence provided to them. He asked the Police to provide a clear out line of what evidence other than the CCTV footage they proposed to rely on.

PC Billington, who had been the Officer on duty, on the night of the incident, explained the sensitivity of the CCTV footage, and confirmed that it was only that part of the hearing where he would present the evidence, which would be taken in closed session.

Mr Charalambides supported this request, and the representatives from JD Wetherspoon’s also confirmed that they did not wish to be party to the closed session.

At 9.45am the Chairman postponed the hearing until 10am to enable the License Holder and her Legal counsel time to confer and consider the case evidence.

At 10.00am the Hearing re-convened.

The Licensing Officer Hannah Hould introduced the purpose and scope of the Review application, the premises to which it related and the key issues for consideration.

She noted the License Holder’s failure to comply with the Licensing Objectives, and detailed significant breaches of the conditions which had resulted in a failure to promote the Objectives, namely the Prevention of Crime and Disorder and the Protection of Children from Harm.

Three representations had been received. These were from two Relevant Authorities (Licensing Authority & Environmental Health) and one Interested Party (JD Wetherspoon’s).

The original license had been held since 6 August 2018, as detailed within P19 – 26 of the agenda.

There had also been a Variation application submitted by the License Holder, which was on hold pending the Review hearing outcome.

Questions

·       The application for a variation was submitted correctly on what authority did you make the decision to defer it?

Answer: Paul Taylor – There were some discussions with your client regarding the two applications. I will get that information and feedback at a later date.

·       There were 43 letters of support, which had not been included, one mentioned that @Home was a safe  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.