Agenda and draft minutes

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Noted.

There were no apologies for absence.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business. (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be considered at item 11 below).

There were no new items of urgent business.

No declarations of interest were made.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting of the Licensing Sub Committee B held on 25^th November 2019.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 25^th November 2019 be approved as a correct record of the meeting.

The Chair will explain the procedure that the Committee will follow for the hearing considered under the Licensing Act 2003. A copy of the procedure is attached.

Noted.

To consider an application for the review of the Premises Licence for Oz Foods, 467-469 High Road London N17.

Licensing Officer

Ms Daliah Barrett, Licensing Officer, introduced the application for the review of the Premises Licence for Oz Foods, 467-469 High Road London N17. It was noted Bruce Grove Food Store - Mr Capbar Temur held the Premises Licence (Director). The Applicant of the review was the Trading Standards RA who had claimed the operation of the premises had failed to uphold the licensing conditions and the licensing objectives, namely the prevention of crime and disorder, and the protection of children from harm. The Licensing Officer took the Committee through the report as set out at pages 11 to 14.

In addition to the Trading Standards RA submissions, representations had been received from the Public Health RA, reiterating matters highlighted by Trading Standards.

The Committee were requested to ignore a copy of variation of 2016 at appendix 2 on page 14, as this was not relevant to the current Application.

Applicant – Trading Standards RA

Trading Standards outlined the application for review, as set out at pages 15 to 28. Trading Standards referred the Committee to Appendix 1 – Review application and supporting documentation – which included statements from representatives from HMRC and Trading Standards and Responsible Trader Scheme Commitment.

The application for review followed concerns over the discovery of non-Duty paid beer, wine and tobacco on the Licensed Premises on 27^th March 2019 following a visit by Trading Standards. The total amount of UK excise duty evaded from the seizure was £4989. There had also been other incidents at the premises, including the seizure of non-Duty Paid goods on 9^th October 2019 valued at £630.

Representative for the Premises Licence Holder

Mr Duncan Craig, Lawyer representing the Premises License Holder Mr Capbar Temur, acknowledged the concerns raised by Trading Standards and accepted the terms proposed by them as reasonable given the circumstances.  It was accepted that the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) should be removed. The Premises License Holder also accepted the appropriate conditions as set out by Trading Standards at page 22.

Mr Craig acknowledged that there had to be some sanction against the licence considering that significant quantities of non-duty paid products were found at the premises on 27^th March 2019, and at a subsequent visit by HMRC non-duty paid tobacco were removed from the premises. Mr Craig noted that no amount of non-duty goods was acceptable; however, the amount of goods seized at the last visit on 9^th October 2019 was a significantly reduced amount in comparison to the visit on 27^th March 2019.

Mr Craig introduced Ms Ozge Boran to the Committee and submitted that the proposal was for Ms Boran to be the DPS for the premises. Mr Craig submitted that Ms Boran had worked at Oz Foods for several years as a member of staff only, although it was submitted that Ms Boran would become a manager. Mr Craig further submitted that Ms Boran presently was not a personal licence holder; however, she had completed a course and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

To consider an application for the review of the Premises Licence for West Green Pool Bar, 428 West Green Road London N15.

Licensing Officer

Prior to introducing the report, Ms Daliah Barrett, Licensing Officer, informed the Committee that the Premises License Holder had been invited to attend the hearing but was not present.

The Licensing Officer introduced the application for the review of the Premises Licence for West Green Pool Bar, 428 West Green Road London N15. It was noted Mr Huseyin Karakas held the Premises Licence. The Applicant of the review was the Metropolitan Police who had claimed the operation of the premises had failed to uphold the licensing conditions and the licensing objectives, namely the prevention of crime and disorder, and the prevention of public nuisance. The Committee were taken through the report as set out at pages 153 to 156.

Regarding a question from the Committee on the Closure Order imposed on the premises, the Metropolitan Police confirmed the premises had been closed from 30^th October to 31^st January. It was a criminal offence for the premises to be entered unless the License Holder had good reason to enter and had informed the Court.

Applicant – Metropolitan Police

Mr Mark Greaves, the Police representative, outlined the application for review as set out at pages 159 to 161. Mr Greaves also took the Committee through the appendices, including the Application for Closure Order prepared by PC Ben Boulter at pages 163 to 164. 

Questions

The Committee next raised questions in relation to the submissions. The following was noted:

• In response to a query, the Licensing Officer explained that failure to pay a licence fee could only result in the suspension of a licence. The system used by the Council, called M3, generated invoice worksheets for one missed year; however, the system was unable to pick up unpaid invoices for following years. Generally, further to an issuance of a suspension letter, a follow up visit would be carried out. In relation to this premises, an officer had previously visited the premises but was unable to gain access. Furthermore, the computer system failed to generate further invoices, which resulted in an oversight of the premises by the Council. It was further noted, that even though police had visited the premises separately, the premises had not been flagged up to the Council. The Licensing Officer acknowledged that joint up with police would be required to prevent such premises going under the radar.
• The Licensing Officer informed the Committee that all premises used to be on a risk-rating, thus premises were visited frequently if required, for instance within a 6 month or 18-month period. However, due to a shortage of resources in the last few years, issues of payment of licence fees were not picked up as it used to be. The Licensing Officer assured the Committee that this issue had been flagged up.
• In response to a query, the Licensing Officer explained that legislation was reliant on the Licence Holder or DPS informing the Responsible Authority that they were no longer at the premises. Unfortunately, most of the time the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

TO RESOLVE

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of the following items as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paragraph 1.

RESOLVED

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of

the following items as they contain exempt information as defined in Section

100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the

Local Government Act 1985); paragraph 1.

To consider exempt information pertaining to Item 8.

The Committee noted the information contained in the exempt material.

To consider any new items of urgent business admitted under item 3 above.

None.