northlincs.gov.uk

Licensing (Activities) Sub-Committee – 1 August 2019

Chairman:  To be appointed
Venue:  Room GO1e, Church Square House, 30-40 High Street, Scunthorpe
Time:  10 am
E-mail Address:  matthew.nundy@northlincs.gov.uk

AGENDA

1.Appointment of Chairman.

2. Declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests, personal or personal and prejudicial interests, and significant contact with applicants, objectors or third parties (lobbying), if any.

3. Licensing Act 2003 – Application for the review of a premises licence, Oscars, Gilliatt Street, Scunthorpe

4. Any other items which the chairman decides are urgent by reason of special circumstances which must be specified.

MINUTES

PRESENT: –  Councillors Ellerby, K Vickers and P Vickers.

The sub-committee met at Church Square House, Scunthorpe.

1633   CHAIRMAN – Resolved – That Councillor K Vickers be and he is hereby appointed chairman for the meeting.

Councillor K Vickers thereupon took the chair.

1634   DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS, PERSONAL OR PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS AND SIGNIFICANT CONTACT WITH APPLICANTS, OBJECTORS OR THIRD PARTIES (LOBBYING) – There were no declarations of pecuniary interests, personal or personal and prejudicial interests and significant contact with applicants, objectors or third parties.

No lobbying was declared.

LICENSING ACT 2003 – REVIEW OF A PREMISES LICENCE, OSCARS, OSCARS, GILLIATT STREET, SCUNTHORPE, North Lincolnshire – The Director: Operations submitted a report advising members of an application for the review of a premises licence at Oscars, Gilliatt Street, Scunthorpe.

Details of the application were outlined in the report, together with the application for the review of the premises licence, submitted by the council’s Health and Safety department.

The Director in his report reminded the sub-committee that the options available to it under the Licensing Act 2003 when considering such applications were:

• To modify the conditions of the licence
• To exclude a licensable activity from the scope of the licence
• To remove the designated premises supervisor
• To suspend the licence for a period not exceeding three months
• To revoke the licence
• To take no action

The Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) respectfully requested an adjournment to the meeting.  He stated that, following the evidence submitted by the Applicant for the Review, in particular the photographs of the premises used in the prosecution file, the sub-committee would benefit from the opportunity to view photographs of how the premises looked now, not 18 months ago.

The DPS added that the premises was now unrecognisable to the one in operation eighteen months ago.  Viewing the photographs of how the premises looked now would provide more context to how the Premises Licence Holder and DPS managed the premises.

The Chairman invited the Applicant for the Review to comment on the request for an adjournment.

The sub-committees Legal Adviser informed the meeting that it was entirely at the discretion of the councillors whether or not to adjourn the meeting.

Following the request for the adjournment, the sub-committee agreed to a short recess to allow them to discuss the matter.

1635   Resolved – That the request for an adjournment be refused on the following grounds –

• The Premises Licence Holder had the opportunity to submit any supporting documentation that it deemed appropriate, yet chose not to do so.

• The Premises Licence Holder returned the counter notice on Friday 26 July 2019. The document had been signed to indicate that the matter could be dealt with on the date of the hearing.

• All parties were in attendance at the hearing and had the opportunity to make submissions and respond to the questions posed by members.

Consequently, the hearing would continue.

The applicant for the review, Premises Licence Holder and Designated Premises Supervisor addressed the sub-committee and responded to questions.

Following the summary of the case, the meeting was adjourned for deliberation by members and then reconvened when the decision of the sub-committee was stated as follows: –

1636   Resolved – That after careful consideration of all the information contained within the agenda bundle, listening to all the information presented before it at the hearing on 1 August 2019 by the Applicant for the Review and the Licence Holder and Designated Premises Supervisor for Oscars, and taking into account the statutory guidance under s182 of the Licensing Act and the council’s Licensing Policy, the sub-committee unanimously agreed to revoke the premises licence.

The Licensing (Activities) Sub–Committee carefully listened to the verbal representation from the council’s Health and Safety Officers.  They also read the documentation contained within the agenda bundle.  A number of photographs which formed part of a food hygiene prosecution were also shown to the Sub-Committee.

Following the presentation, the Applicant for the Review respectfully requested that the premises licence be revoked.

The Sub-Committee also listened to the verbal representation made by the licence holder and the Designated Premises Supervisor, including the written statements that were circulated at the meeting.  The licence holder assured the Sub-Committee that following the council prosecution, a significant number of measures had now been put in place at the premises to ensure that a similar situation never arose again.  The premises was now unrecognisable from the one that was shown in the photographs presented by the Applicant for the Review and, as a result, the licence should be allowed to continue.

Following the presentation by both the Applicant for the Review and the licence holder, including their responses to the Sub-Committees questions, the Sub-Committee unanimously agreed that the premises licence at Oscars be revoked.

The Sub-Committee considers the conviction at Grimsby Magistrates Court on 6 June 2019 to be very serious.  The safety of the public was the Sub-Committees primary concern.  The Sub-Committee noted the Licence Holder’s admission that he became overwhelmed in respect of the running of the premises and that was why the premises had deteriorated.

The Sub-Committee referred to Section 6 of the council’s Licensing Policy which considered the public safety licensing objective and was greatly concerned that the hygiene facilities at the premises were not of the standard expected to keep the public safe.

The Sub-Committee gave particular weight to the submissions made by the Team Leader – Food and Safety and noted her observation that Oscars was the worst premise for hygiene that she had ever seen.

The safety of the public was a primary concern for the Sub-Committee and it needed to ensure premises were up to the required standard to keep the public safe.  It was the decision of the Sub-Committee that these premises had not been of the required standard for some time.  The Sub-Committee does not have any confidence that the Licence Holder and the Designated Premises Supervisor were capable of operating the premises and, as such, agreed to revoke the premises licence.

In reaching this decision, the Sub-Committee had regard to paragraph 11.18 of the statutory guidance and noted that Hygiene Improvement Notices had been served on the premises by the council’s Environmental Health officers requiring improvements at the premises.