Agenda item

To receive the report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory for the consideration of the renewal and variation of a sex establishment licence for the provision of sexual entertainment in the form of lap dancing. The variation aspect of the application proposes to extend the terminal opening times by an additional hour each day. This application is made by Ruby May (2) Limited for a premises to operate under the name of Purple Door, 5 York Place, Leeds, LS1 2DR.

(Report attached)

The report of the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory requested Members consideration on the renewal and variation of a sex establishment licence for the provision of sexual entertainment in the form of lap dancing. The variation aspect of the application proposed to extend the terminal opening times by an additional hour each day.

The Licensing Sub Committee were advised of the following points:

·  The application was made by Ruby May (2) Limited to operate under the name Purple Door

·  The premises had held a licence for the provision of regulated entertainment and the sale of alcohol since 24^th November 2005. It was understood that lap dancing had been held at the premises since that time;

·  Purple Door is one of the four venues in the city centre which has a licence for sexual entertainment;

·  The application was for the renewal of the sex establishment licence for the ground floor and basement level at the premises;

·  The current hours of operation are:

o  22:00hrs until 04:00hrs Sunday to Thursday

o  22:00hrs until 05:00hrs Friday and Saturday

·  The proposed hours of operation:

o  22:00hrs until 05:00hrs Sunday to Thursday

o  22:00hrs until 06:00hrs Sunday to Thursday

·  The application had attracted seven objectives which were set out at Appendices F and G of the submitted report;

·  It was noted that no observations had been received from West Yorkshire Police concerning this application.

Members were made aware that the applicant had confirmed that they wished to amend the application to incorporate the two additional conditions as set out in the letter of objection from the Local Authority’s Senior Liaison and Enforcement Officer.

The additional conditions were:

·  When the licence holder employs a subcontractor, no person under the age of 18 years of age shall carry out work for or on behalf of the venue, whether paid or unpaid, which includes advertising promotional work such as flyering, etc.

·  The licence holder will carry out age verification checks of all staff employed or subcontracted by the premises and will maintain a recorded log which is kept up to date of all checks made including the forms of identification checked. The record log shall be produced immediately on request to a police constable or officer of the Licensing Authority.

In attendance at the meeting were:

·  Nicholas Quadrini – Managing Director

·  Carl Copeland – Manager

·  Airides Benosenko – Manager

·  Sarah Smith – Solicitor

·  Officer from the Licensing Authority

·  Ms C Hunt – Member of the public

·  Ms B Barry – Women’s Equality Party Leeds

Ms Smith spoke to the Sub-Committee in regard to the renewal of the licence informing the Members of the following points:

·  Purple Door is the longest established Sexual Entertainment venue having opened in 1998 one of only four in the city centre;

·  The premises have successfully renewed its licence every year since 2012;

·  There had been no changes to the premises and the external frontage was the same;

·  Appendix C of the report provided information on policies and checks in relation to the welfare of the dancers;

·  The dancers are well looked after;

·  There have been no changes to the locality with a few residential properties with mainly commercial use;

·  A full investigation had been made in relation to persons under 18 years old distributing flyers;

·  No payment had been made to anyone under the age of 18 years old;

·  Passports and ID were checked to ensure that dancers were able to work in this country;

·  Purple Door agree to the 2 additional conditions set out in the Licensing Officers letter included within the agenda pack;

·  Door staff monitor the area surrounding the venue not just Purple Door;

·  SARVL had put in the same objection as the previous year;

·  The application had not attracted representations from responsible authorities;

·  Reduced hours had been accepted in 2012 as part of the review but no consultation had been undertaken;

·  Mr Quadrini had previously had two sexual establishment venues prior to the review. However one of the premises had closed due to the review;

·  It was suggested that the extra hour would reduce queues for taxi’s;

·  On a Friday and Saturday there is usually up to 40 people in the venue;

·  Customers had requested longer hours;

·  The photographs presented as supplementary information related to how quiet the street was between 4:00am and 6:00am.

The Licensing Officer referred to her representation within the agenda pack with no further information to add. The Officer did inform Members that she had spoken to the premises licence holder with regard to the additional conditions.

Ms Hunt – referred to her representation contained within the agenda pack saying that she had nothing further to add.

Ms Barry – referred to her representation contained within the agenda pack saying that she had nothing further to add.

Members considered all the information presented to them both within the agenda pack and information supplied at the hearing.

RESOLVED – To grant the renewal of the licence with the same conditions and the additional two conditions as follows:

• When the licence holder employs a subcontractor, no person under the age of 18 years of age shall carry out work for or on behalf of the venue, whether paid or unpaid, which includes advertising promotional work such as flyering, etc.
• The licence holder will carry out age verification checks of all staff employed or subcontracted by the premises and will maintain a recorded log which is kept up to date of all checks made including the forms of identification checked. The record log shall be produced immediately on request to a police constable or officer of the Licensing Authority.

However, in relation to the extra terminal hour sought, Members could not be persuaded to depart from the Council’s Policy. Therefore, the extra hour was not granted.