Agenda and minutes

To agree the remote meeting guidance.

RESOLVED –

THAT the guidance on remote meetings be agreed.

There were no apologies.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair made the following announcement: “In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for six months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.”

There were no notifications of urgent business.

Report of the Executive Director, Supporting Communities.

This is an application for a review of a premises licence made by the Metropolitan Police under section 53C of the Licensing Act 2003.

This report has appendices which contains information exempt within the meaning of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and is not for publication. The appendix has therefore been circulated to Panel Members only.

If the Panel wishes to discuss the contents of a closed exempt appendix it may pass the proposed resolution identified at the end of the document to exclude members of the public and the press from the proceedings for that discussion. 

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director, Supporting Communities detailing an application for a review of a premises licence made by the Metropolitan Police under Section 53C of the Licensing Act 2003 and to the supplementary papers.  

The Licensing Officer introduced the report and explained that the licence had been suspended following an interim review hearing on 15^th September. At the time of writing the report no representations had been received, however the  deadline for submission of representations was 29^th September; and, since publication of the report, two Responsible Authorities, a community association and members of the public had made representations which were included in the supplementary papers.

A request was made by the Metropolitan Police that the press and public be excluded from the meeting when this item was considered so as not to disclose  information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.

Members agreed that the Police and Licence Holders’ submissions be held in private. The Responsible Authorities and Interested Party’s submissions would be held in public.

The Licensing Authority’s representative in support of their representation expressed concern that the prevention of crime and disorder and prevention of public nuisance licensing objectives were not being upheld. They had received three complaints over the previous two years relating to this premises. They confirmed that they supported the application brought by the Police to review the premises licence.

The Health and Safety Responsible Authority representative in support of their representation expressed concerns about indoor smoking on the roof terrace, which was substantially enclosed; and therefore in breach of the smoking legislation, also the glass panels on the roof floor were shattered, causing a slip-and-trip hazard and was unsafe.

The Licence Holder’s Counsel, James Rankin, asked if the problems identified by the Health & Safety visit could be remedied if the roof terrace was closed and not re-opened until it had been approved by the Authority, the representative said that they would be.

The Interested Party present, Clive Henderson of the Charlotte Street Association, stated that residents had applied for a review of the premises in 2011 due to concerns about noise nuisance and disturbance.  Mr Henderson also expressed the view that public safety and the prevention of crime and disorder could be upheld by reducing the hours of the premises, which he said were unduly late compared to other licensed premises in the Fitzrovia area.

Mr Rankin asked questions of Mr Henderson and it was clarified that the review applied for 11 years ago had not resulted in a reduction in hours, but had resulted in additional conditions being imposed on the premises licence to address issues around public nuisance.

The Responsible Authorities and the Interested Party made closing statements.

The Panel then passed the following resolution at 7.45pm:

RESOLVED –

THAT the press and public be excluded from the proceedings of the Licensing Panel on 4^th October 2022 during consideration of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

There was no other business.

Should the Panel wish to go into closed session, it will take the following resolution:

THAT the press and public be excluded from the proceedings of the Licensing Panel on 4^th October 2022 during consideration of the respective item on the agenda on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that were members of the public to be present, there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Specifically -

Publicity in respect of item x would be likely to lead to the disclosure of information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings by virtue of Category 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

Or

Publicity in respect of item x would be likely to lead to the disclosure of Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime by virtue of Category 7 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).