Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of Legal and Democratic Services on an application received from West Yorkshire Police requesting a Review of the Premises Licence currently held at the premises known as “Square”, 58/63 Boar Lane, Leeds LS1 6HW

(Report attached)

The Licensing Committee considered a Review of the Premises Licence currently held at the premises known as “Square”, 58/63 Boar Lane, Leeds LS1 6HW. The Review had been necessitated following application made by West Yorkshire Police under Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003 and with regard to the following licensing objectives:

·  The prevention of crime and disorder

·  Public nuisance

·  The prevention of public nuisance

The Committee considered the Licensing Officers Report containing a copy of the application as made by West Yorkshire Police (WYP) which included several witness statements supplied by police officers and a statement from Trading Standards. Additional information supplied by the Premises Licence Holder, namely a report drafted by an independent Licensing Consultant, and an additional Witness statement submitted by West Yorkshire Police, were despatched to all parties prior to the hearing

In brief, WYP had been concerned about under age drinking within the City Centre and the impact this had on the number of incidents of crime and disorder subsequently perpetrated by persons under the age of 18. To this end, WYP had, in conjunction with West Yorkshire Trading Standards, undertaken a series of test purchases since November 2005 in the City Centre whereby juvenile volunteers would gain entry to premise and attempt to purchase alcohol from bar staff. Square had been visited as part of these operations and on three separate occasions, juvenile volunteers aged 14/15 years had been able to enter the premises and purchase alcohol.

It was noted that WYP and LCC Entertainment Licensing Department operated criteria whereby any venue that commits three such offences in any 12-month period is liable to a Premises Licence Review, and it was for this reason that WYP sought a Review for the “Square” Premises Licence.

Immediately prior to the commencement of the formal hearing, the Committee requested sight of photographs of the two juvenile females who had made one of the test purchases referred to in the evidence provided by WYP. These were provided to the Clerk and distributed to the Committee. The Clerk then made the photographs available to the solicitor for the Premises Licence Holder.

Following this, it was noted that the solicitor for the Premises Licence Holder had not had seen video evidence due to be produced by WYP and WY Trading Standards as part of their submission. The Committee permitted additional time prior to the formal hearing for this video evidence to be shown to the Premises Licence Holder.

The Committee considered the verbal submissions from Ms Emma Farnsworth – barrister – on behalf of WYP. She was accompanied by the following;

Ms Helen Harvey – from the Office of the Force Solicitor

Mr Kevin Robson – West Yorkshire Trading Standards

PC Cath Arkle  }

Sgt R Fullilove  }

PC Paul Curtis  } WYP

Sgt Paul McKenna  }

Mr Bob Patterson  }

The Committee also considered the verbal submissions of Mr Andrew Woods – solicitor for TCG Acquisitions. He was accompanied by the following:

Mr Nigel Lunn – observing

Miss Lisa Adamczyk – former DPS of the Square

Mr Craig Southall – current DPS of the Square

Mr Kevin Bradley – Independent Licensing Consultant

Mr Steve Ellison – Operations Manager for TCG Acquisitions

The Committee reviewed the Licence and had regard to all the representations, the Licensing Act and relevant Guidance.

The Committee were satisfied that a number of test purchases had taken place and that alcohol had been sold to persons obviously under the age of 18. The Committee also felt that realistically other persons under 18 would have purchased alcohol and that the necessary checks had not been carried out.

The Committee accepted the comment of WYP that the premises did not cause a significant problem from the point of view of crime and disorder.

The Committee also noted the submission from Sgt Fullilove identifying the following three areas of concern as the quality of doorstaff; quality of training and the quality of supervision.

RESOLVED -

a)  The Committee noted that the company which provided doorstaff had recently been changed. The Committee requested the Premises Licence Holder to provide, within 28 days, a copy of the instructions given to doorstaff to both the Licensing Authority and WYP.

b)  The Committee had heard that staff training had been amended and were satisfied that this was an improvement; however a condition was imposed that the training should include role-play with regard to asking for ID from customers as suggested by WYP.