Resolved – That Councillor M Hornby be appointed Chair for this meeting.

Members of the Sub-Committee are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non pecuniary interests, in connection with any application on the agenda and state the nature of the interest.

Members of the Sub-Committee were asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non pecuniary interests in connection with any application on the agenda and state the nature of the interest.

No such declarations were made.

The Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment reported upon an application that had been received from Sukhdeep Thiara to vary a Premises Licence in respect of News and Booze, 264-266 Conway Street, Birkenhead, under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

The variation requested was to remove the following condition:

·  Beer or cider with an ABV above 6% must not be sold at the premises.

The applicant had submitted an operating schedule setting out how the business would be conducted/managed in accordance with the four licensing objectives. A copy of the full application was available.

Representations had been received from Wirral Licensing Authority, Trading Standards, Environmental Health, Public Health and Merseyside Police.  The representations related to a number of concerns that the removal of the condition would lead to all four Licensing Objectives being undermined. Copies of the representations were available.

The applicant attended the meeting together with his father and his legal representative, Mr Chris Johnson.

Mr A Bushell, Licensing Operations Manager, Sergeant S Barrigan, Merseyside Police, Ms H Jones, Senior Assistant Trading Standards Officer, Mr J Hardwick, Environmental Health Officer, Mr G Hill, Public Health Manager, Ms T Cavanagh, Public Health Advisor and Mr G Rickwood, Senior Public Health Manager were also in attendance to speak on behalf of the representations that had been submitted.

The Licensing Manager confirmed that all documentation had been sent and received and that some plans and maps were available for distribution at the appropriate time.

Mr Johnson addressed the Sub-Committee and advised that he had represented the previous licence holder of the premises when the Licence had been revoked.  He stated that in his mind there was no question at that time that the Licence should be revoked because the premises were troublesome.  He informed Members that the Premises Licence had been granted on appeal on 13 November 2013 and explained that it was considered appropriate to have the condition restricting the sale of super strength beers and ciders at the premises due to evidence provided by local residents and Ward Councillors of alcohol related anti-social behaviour within the vicinity of the premises that was also linked to street drinking.

The applicant advised that people regularly come into the premises asking for beers and ciders above 6% ABV which he has to refuse.  The applicant further advised that the reason he wanted the condition to be removed was to increase his profits and compete with other retailers in the area.

The applicant and Chris Johnson responded to questions from Members of the Sub-Committee, Mr D K Abraham, Legal Advisor to the Sub-Committee and the Responsible Authorities in attendance.

Mr A Bushell provided a chronology of events since the previous Premises Licence had been revoked.  He advised that at the time he submitted his representation, a follow up visit to the premises had been due to take place.  He reported that this visit had now taken place and during the visit it had been demonstrated that the CCTV was still not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

The Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment reported upon an application that had been received by a local resident to review the Premises Licence in respect of Poulton Pop In, 411-413 Poulton Road, Wallasey.

The premises currently hold a Premises Licence which allows the sale of alcohol for consumption off the premises only.

The Strategic 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 appropriate 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 appropriate if it found that the review did not require it to take any steps necessary to promote the licensing objectives.

The application had been received from Merseyside Police and they advised that the grounds for review related to the premises knowingly employing an individual who could not lawfully be employed in the UK which had led to the licensing objective of the prevention of crime and disorder being undermined.  A copy of the representation was available.

The Premises Licence Holder, Mr Krishnabalan, attended the meeting with his representative Mr Douglas.

Sergeant S Barrigan also attended the meeting.

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

Sergeant Barrigan reported upon a visit made to the premises on 17 September 2014 where it was found that an individual had been working at the premises who did not have permission to work in the UK.  Sergeant Barrigan referred to an interview that had taken place with an Immigration Officer during which Kanagarathinam had admitted to working in the shop for two to three months and that he had been given the job by his brother-in-law, Paheerathan who had subsequently been issued a £10,000 penalty by the Home Office in December 2014.  Sergeant Barrigan referred to paragraphs 11.27 and 11.28 of the Statutory Guidance issued under Section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 as it was his opinion that as the crime and prevention licensing objective had been undermined, serious consideration should be given to revoking the Premises Licence.

Sergeant Barrigan referred to other occurrences at the premises which had given cause for concern that the licensing objectives had not been upheld, namely the refusal to provide CCTV upon request and the sale of alcohol to a person under the age of 18 years.

Sergeant Barrigan referred to the review and whether an illegal immigrant had been knowingly employed at the premises.  He cited the definition of ‘knowledge’ from the Home Office Guidance 2013.  Sergeant Barrigan expressed his disappointment in respect of the fact that the new Designated Premises Supervisor was not in attendance at the meeting and therefore was unable to respond to any questions.

Mr Douglas did not dispute the outcome of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.