Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED – Councillor G Hussain was elected as Chair for the duration of the meeting.

Present at the hearing were

For Silks  

Mr Anthony Lyons, Kuits Solicitors – solicitor representing the applicant

M Cunningham - manager and DPS

Objector

Rowena Hall – on behalf of the Director of City Development, Leeds City Council.

Observers

Mr P Whur

Mr P Gourlay

Thomas Chiang

Sam Lee

Mercourios Makrinakis

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded)

(*In accordance with Procedure Rule 15.2, written notice of an appeal must be received by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting)

There were no appeals against the refusal of inspection of documents.

1)  To highlight reports or appendices which:

a)  officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

b)  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

c)  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

  RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of those parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information

2) To note that under the Licensing Procedure Rules, the press and the public will be excluded from that part of the hearing where Members will deliberate on each application as it is in the public interest to allow the Members to have a full and frank debate on the matter before them.

The Sub Committee felt that the hearing should be held in the public domain and agreed that wherever possible, specific reference to the contents of the exempt information contained within Appendix B of the report should not be referred to, however if it became necessary, the public and press would be excluded from the meeting  as follows:

RESOLVED – That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of that part of the agenda designated as exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as contained in Appendix B, and on the grounds that it is not in the public interest to disclose the contents as the information therein pertains to an individual

No formal late items of business were added to the agenda for the meeting. It was noted that Appendix H of the report of the Head of Licensing and Registration referred to the standard conditions of the previous Sex Establishment policy and for the avoidance of doubt, a replacement Appendix H which related to the Licensing of Sex Establishments Statement of Licensing Policy (“the Policy”) which came into effect on 1 September 2013 was circulated at the meeting.

Members are reminded to disclose or draw attention to any disclosable pecuniary interests at the start of the hearing on each application for the purposes of Section 31 of the Localism Act 2011 and paragraphs 13-16 of the Members Code of Conduct

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests.

To consider the report of the Head of Licensing and Registration on an application made under Section 2 and Schedule 3 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 for the renewal of a Sex Establishment Licence for the premises known as Silks,  2 Sovereign Place, Leeds, LS1 4SP.

Please note that Appendix B of the report is regarded as exempt from publication under the provisions of Access to Information Procedure Rule 10.4 (1, 2 &3)

The Licensing Sub Committee considered the report of the Head of Licensing and Registration on an application made under Section 2 (Schedule 3) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 for the renewal of a Sex Establishment Licence. The application was made by Red Carpet Leisure (Leeds) Limited, 199 Roundhay Road, Leeds, LS8 5AN relating to the premises known as `Silks’, 2 Sovereign Place, Leeds. The ground and first floors are to be covered under the provisions of the licence with proposed hours of operation of 22:00 until 04:00 hours Sunday to Thursday and 22:00 until 05:00 hours Friday and Saturday.

The report on the application included the following documentation which Members considered during their deliberations:

• Dancers Welfare Policy
• Dancers Code of Conduct
• Customers Code of Conduct
• Fines policy
• Pricing policy
• Trade Union Details
• Appearance/advertising material
• Site plan

Appendix B of the report was exempt from publication under Access to Information Procedure Rule 10.4 (1, 2 & 3) however the Sub Committee resolved not to specifically discuss the exempt information to allow the hearing to be held in public.

The application attracted a total of 27 objections and one letter of support.

Members noted that only one of the objectors attended the hearing and therefore resolved to consider the written objections contained within the documents before them and proceed in the absence of the other objectors.

At the outset it was clarified that one of the members of the Sub Committee had been on the working group of the Licensing Committee in relation to the new Policy.

The members confirmed that they all came to deal with this application with an open mind.

The Legal Adviser, having outlined the procedure for the hearing, indicated that the Sub Committee sought clarity from the applicant’s presentation on the following issues:

·  How long the venue had traded as a lap dancing venue

·  Issues arising from any compliance visits

·  Clarity on whether any fining policy existed

·  The number of dancers and the number of customers attending the venue

The Licensing Officer introduced the Report of the Head of Licensing and Registration.

The Sub Committee then heard from Mr Lyons on behalf of the applicant whose presentation included the following points:

That the management of the establishment were experienced. He said that ‘Silks’ had traded since 2008, the premises having previously traded as Rembrandts, and that the capacity of the venue was 100 people. Over the course of a busy evening between 200 and 250 people could pass through.

Confirmation was provided that 49 dancers were on the books and that on a typical Saturday evening 25 dancers would be working, further that no dancers are fined as per the clubs policy.

He said that lap dancing was a lawful activity, subject to regulation and that objection could not be made on moral grounds. It was put to the Sub Committee that Silks had complied with all regulations and policy issued nationally and locally.

Mr Lyons said that the location of ‘Silks’ was policy compliant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.