Resolved - That Councillor S Niblock be appointed Chair for this meeting.

Members are asked to consider whether they have personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda, and, if so, to declare them and state what they are.

Members were asked to consider whether they had personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any items on the agenda, and, if so, to declare them and state what they were.

No such declarations were made.

The Director of Law, HR and Asset Management reported upon an application that had been received from Merseyside Police for the review of a Premises Licence in respect of Higher Tranmere Express, 10 Bebington Road, Tranmere, under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

The premises currently have a Premises Licence which allowed the licensable activities as set out in the report.

The Director advised that the Sub-Committee may, having regard to the application for review and any relevant representations, take such of the following steps as it considered necessary for the promotion of the licensing objectives:

• Modify the Conditions of the Licence.
• Exclude a licensable activity from the scope of the Licence.
• Remove the Designated Premises Supervisor.
• Suspend the Licence for a period not exceeding three months.
• Revoke the Licence.

The Licensing Authority may decide that no action would be necessary if it found that the review did not require it to take any steps necessary to promote the licensing objectives.

The application had been submitted by Merseyside Police and the Licensing Sergeant advised that the grounds for review were in relation to the premises being linked to criminal activity, namely a number of illegal immigrants being employed at the premises.

Sergeant P Jenkins and Constable P Coley, Merseyside Police, attended the meeting.

Mrs N Thirkawala, Premises Licence Holder was also in attendance together with her Solcitior, Mr R Williams.

The Licensing Manager reported that all documentation had been sent and received.

Sergeant Jenkins outlined the application for review.  He reported that a number of illegal immigrants had been found working at the premises and gave details of the individuals, how they had been discovered at the premises and the action that had been taken against them by the relevant agencies.  He informed Members that it was a criminal offence to knowingly employ an illegal immigrant and as such there had been clear evidence that the licensing objective of the prevention of crime and disorder had been compromised.

Sergeant Jenkins advised Members that Mrs Thirkawala had been fully co-operative with the Police and had expressed a willingness to work with them in the future and requested that the conditions of the Premises Licence be modified.

Sergeant Jenkins responded to questions from Members of the Sub-Committee.

Mr Williams reported that Mrs Thirkawala accepted that a crime had been committed and that the individuals should not have been working at the premises.  He requested that the conditions be modified as proposed by Merseyside Police.

Mr Williams responded to questions from Members of the Sub-Committee, Mr Abraham, Legal Advisor to the Sub-Committee and Sergeant Jenkins.

Members gave careful consideration to the application made by Merseyside Police to review the Premises Licence at Higher Tranmere Express, 10 Bebington Road, Tranmere and the representations made in writing and orally at the hearing by officers from Merseyside Police, Mrs Thirkawala, the Premises Licence Holder and Designated Premises Supervisor and her legal advisor, Mr Williams.

In determining the review application Members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 140.

The Director of Law, HR and Asset Management reported upon an application that had been received from Merseyside Police for the review of a Premises Licence in respect of The Local, 186 Pensby Road, Heswall, under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

The premises currently have a Premises Licence which allowed the licensable activities as set out in the report.

The Director advised that the Sub-Committee may, having regard to the application for review and any relevant representations, take such of the following steps as it considered necessary for the promotion of the licensing objectives:

• Modify the Conditions of the Licence.
• Exclude a licensable activity from the scope of the Licence.
• Remove the Designated Premises Supervisor.
• Suspend the Licence for a period not exceeding three months.
• Revoke the Licence.

The Licensing Authority may decide that no action would be necessary if it found that the review did not require it to take any steps necessary to promote the licensing objectives.

The application had been submitted by Merseyside Police and the Licensing Sergeant advised that the grounds for review were in relation to the premises being linked to criminal activity, namely an illegal immigrant being employed at the premises.

Sergeant P Jenkins and Constable P Coley, Merseyside Police, attended the meeting.

Mrs J Roddick attended the meeting on behalf of Mr Roddick, Premises Licence Holder.

The Licensing Manager reported that all documentation had been sent and received and that Mr Roddick had given permission for his wife to speak on his behalf.

Sergeant Jenkins outlined the application for review.  He reported that an illegal immigrant had been found working at the premises and reported upon the details and circumstances surrounding the immigrant being discovered working at the premises.  Sergeant Jenkins advised that, Mr and Mrs Roddick had subsequently removed the Designated Premises Supervisor from the premises and terminated their contract with him.

Sergeant Jenkins advised Members that Mrs Roddick was in full agreement with the proposed conditions suggested by Merseyside Police.

Sergeant Jenkins responded to questions from Members of the Sub-Committee.

Mrs Roddick stated that she would like to retain the Premises Licence as she had been approached by a proposed purchaser for the lease.

Members gave careful consideration to the application made by Merseyside Police to review the Premises Licence at The Local, 186 Pensby Road, Heswall and the representations made in writing and orally at the hearing by officers from Merseyside Police and Mrs Roddick on behalf of the Premises Licence Holder, Mr Roddick.

In determining the review application Members had regard to the licensing objectives, the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy and relevant guidance issued under Section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003.

Members accepted the evidence provided by Merseyside Police that an illegal immigrant had been working at the premises.  Members also had regard to the fact that Mrs Roddick had accepted the seriousness of the matter and as a result had terminated the business relationship with the Designated Premises Supervisor, Mr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 141.