The Acting 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 Liberty, 3-3A Grange Road, West Kirby, under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

The premises currently have a Premises Licence allowing the licensable activities as set out within the report.

A copy of the Premises Licence setting out the hours and conditions attached to the licence was available.

The Acting 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 prevention of crime and disorder and public safety due to unlicensed activities taking place at the premises which had resulted in a serious assault.

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

Mr C Saverimutto, Designated Premises Supervisor and Premises Licence Holder was also in attendance.

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

Sergeant Jenkins reported that Mr Saverimutto had received and accepted a caution for unlicensed activities and had therefore, in his opinion, admitted that unlicensed activities had taken place at the premises.  Sergeant Jenkins referred to the statements included within his submissions of the people involved in the incident on 27 May 2012 and provided the details regarding the incident when a male was injured due to unlicensed activities having taken place at the premises.  Sergeant Jenkins referred to further breaches of the Premises Licence and believed that Mr Saverimutto had demonstrated a lack of knowledge of his responsibilities as Designated Premises Supervisor.  Sergeant Jenkins therefore requested that the conditions of the Premises Licence be modified and provided some suggested conditions that he wished to be placed upon the Premises Licence.

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

Mr Saverimutto believed that the Premises Licence had been brought to review due to an unfortunate set of circumstances.  He referred to the incident that had occurred outside the premises on 27 May 2012 and stated that he had accepted the caution as the perpetrators of the assault had been drinking in the premises beyond the hours permitted on the Premises Licence.  He believed that some unfounded allegations had been made regarding underage persons drinking at the premises and noise from 18^th birthday parties as there was no evidence of this.  He also stated that there had been no history of violence at the premises previously and presented photographs of the premises in support.  Mr Saverimutto requested that the condition suggested by Sergeant Jenkins that no 18^th birthday parties be held at the premises would be inappropriate and unfair as the premises was a popular venue for 18^th birthday parties and he believed they were well managed.  Mr Saverimutto apologised that the incident had occurred and also stated that he would willingly implement a Challenge 25 Policy at the premises and work together with the responsible authorities to ensure that the licensing objectives would be upheld.

Mr Saverimutto responded to questions from Members of the Sub-Committee, Mr D K Abraham, the Licensing Manager and Sergeant Jenkins.

Members gave careful consideration to the application made by Merseyside Police to review the Premises Licence at Liberty, 3-3A Grange Road, West Kirby and the representations made in writing and orally at the hearing by officers from Merseyside Police as well as Mr Saverimutto, the Premises Licence Holder and Designated Premises Supervisor.

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 there had been a serious incident that occurred within the vicinity of the premises on 27 May 2012 following unlicensable activities taking place at the premises and that Mr Saverimutto had accepted this and was issued with a formal caution in respect of unlicensable activities.

Members noted that Mr Saverimutto supported the benefits of training staff in respect of their responsibilities under licensing legislation.

Members recognised Mr Saverimutto’s willingness to have in place effective measures to prevent the sale of alcohol to under 18’s including a written protocol for 18^th birthday parties.

Resolved -

(1)  That in accordance with Regulation 14(2) of the Licensing Act 2003, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the application.

(2)  That the conditions of the Premises Licence in respect of Liberty, 3-3A Grange Road, West Kirby, be modified as follows:

• The Designated Premises Supervisor at these premises must hold a Level 2 Award for Designated Premises Supervisors as from 1 October 2012.
• All staff authorised to sell alcohol must attend training delivered either by Wirral Trading Standards or a training provider who can deliver accredited training in relation under-aged sales by 1 October 2012 and a record of this training must be made available to an authorised officer on request.
• Staff working at the premises must receive regular updated training in respect of preventing the sale of alcohol to persons under 18 years of age and training records must be kept and maintained
• A Challenge 25 Policy must be in force at the premises and must be maintained.  Signage must be prominently displayed regarding this policy.
• From 1 October 2012 there must be a Personal Licence Holder on duty at all times when alcohol is being sold.