Agenda item

The following were present at the hearing:

Members of the Licensing Sub-Committee were asked to hear and determine an application for the review of the premises licence for:

7 Star Supermarket, 60 Upton Lane, Forest Gate, E7 9LP

and any valid representations that had been made.

Mr John Chislett presented the report and said that a review application had been submitted by the Police Licensing Unit team and received by the Council on 15 December 2011. 

PC Bull said that the review had been applied for on the basis of prevention of crime and disorder and outlined the incidents within the premises that had given the Police officers grounds for review; namely those incidents on 8 October 2011 and 10 December 2011.

Mr John Iannou, on behalf of the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS), said that the DPS did not dispute the evidence given by the Police and had apologised unreservedly for his wrongdoing on the two abovementioned occasions.  Mr Iannou said that the premises was not situated in an area particularly associated with crime and disorder and that the incidents reported had not resulted in any criminal offence. 

MrIannou said that the DPS agreed with the conditions suggested by the Police and said that DPS was happy to consider closing the premises at 11.00pm.

Members said that they expected the DPS to be aware of, and comply with, the licensing conditions.  Mr Iannou reiterated that the DPS had acknowledged his wrongdoing and was fully aware of his obligations.

There being no further statements or questions, the Licensing Sub-Committee resolved to exclude all parties and officers to allow for a deliberation in private at 2.25pm.  The Clerk and legal representative remained.

All parties returned at 2.30pm for the decision of the Sub-Committee.

Decision

The Licensing Sub Committee must promote the licensing objectives and must have regard to the National Guidance and the Council’s Policy.  The licensing objective of the Prevention of Crime and Disorder is engaged.  

The Sub Committee considered the review application in respect of 7 Star Supermarket at 60 Upton Lane, Forest Gate, E7 9LP and agreed to attach the following conditions to the premises licence:

1. The Premises shall close at 23.00 hours every day, Monday to Sunday.  

2. After 23.00 hours all refrigerated cabinets storing alcohol must be locked, and all alcohol displayed behind the counter must be screened from view.

3. After 23.00 hours no cases, crates, cans, or bottles of alcohol must be left on display on the shop floor inside the premises.

Alcohol Strength

a) All bottles or cans of beers, lagers, ciders, bitters, stout, ales and spirit based drinks sold at the premises should not exceed 6% alcohol volume. 

CCTV Conditions

a) The Licensee/DPS shall ensure that CCTV cameras and recorders are maintained in good working order and fully operational covering both internal and external areas of the premises to which the public have access.

b) The CCTV cameras views are not to be obstructed.

c) The medium on which CCTV images are recorded will be clearly identifiable, stored securely and shall be retained for a period of 31 days and shall be available for inspection by the police, or an authorised officer upon request. At all times when the premises are open for the purposes of licensable activities, a suitably trained member of staff shall be present to assist the Police Officers or an authorised officer in obtaining the CCTV footage.

d) The CCTV system shall, except for maintenance by a contractor between 0700 hours and 1900 hours be fully operational and recording twenty four hours each day.

e) If the CCTV system is broken, the Licensee/DPS or a member of staff are to contact the Police Licensing Team immediately and the fault to be rectified as soon as practicable.  If the CCTV is not working, then the venue shall remain closed until such time as it has been fixed.  A record of downloads/maintenance or viewing to be recorded by the operator.

f)  The CCTV system installed shall have the facility to transfer CCTV stored to a medium supported by the Police and/or the council such as CD/DVD/USB facility so that the police can make evidential copy of the data when required. The data should be in the native file format to ensure that no image quality is lost when making the copy. If this format is non standard, i.e. manufacturers proprietary, then the manufacturer should supply the replay software to ensure that the video on the CD can be replayed by the Police and the Licensing Authority on a standard computer. Copies MUST be made available to the police and officers of the council upon request. The facility to transfer the images shall be held on the premises.

Challenge 25

“Challenge 25”

a) The Licensee/DPS to adopt a “Challenge 25” policy where all customers who appear to be under the age of 25 and attempt to purchase alcohol or other age-restricted products are asked for proof of their age.

b) The Licensee/DPS to prominently display notices advising customers of the “Challenge 25” policy.

c) The following proofs of age are the only ones to be accepted; proof of age cards bearing the ”Pass” hologram symbol:  UK Photo Driving licence & Passport.

Staff Competence and Training

a) The Licensee/DPS to keep a written record of all staff authorised to sell alcohol, the record to contain the full name, home address, date of birth and national insurance number of each person so authorised. The staff record to be kept on the licensed premises and made available for inspection by the Licensing Officer, Trading Standards or the Police.

b) The Licensee/DPS to ensure that each member of staff authorised to sell alcohol has received adequate training on the law with regard to age restricted products and that all staff authorised to sell alcohol receive training on identifying customers who may be under the age of 25 years.  All training is to be properly documented and training records kept. The training records to be kept on the licensed premises and made available for inspection by the Licensing Officer, Trading Standards or the Police.

c) The Licensee/DPS to ensure that each member of staff authorised to sell alcohol is fully aware of his/her responsibilities in relation to verifying a customer’s age and is able to effectively question purchasers and check evidence of proof of age.

d) The Licensee/DPS to ensure that each member of staff authorised to sell alcohol is sufficiently capable and confident to confront and challenge under-25s attempting to purchase alcohol.

e) The Licensee/DPS to ensure that effective controls are in place to ensure that persons (whether staff or otherwise) who are not authorised to sell alcohol cannot do so.  This would be likely to include a rota system where at least one authorised person is present at all times during licensing hours.

f) The Licensee/DPS must undertake refresher training twice a year and shall maintain a file of all staff training, signed by each staff member authorised to sell alcohol. This must be available for inspection by the Police or authorised Council Officers.

Refusals' Book

a) The Licensee/DPS shall keep and maintain a register of refused sales of all age-restricted products (Refusals' Book).

b) The Refusals' Book to contain details of time and date, description of the attempting purchaser, description of the age restricted products they attempted to purchase, reason why the sale was refused and the name/signature of the sales person refusing the sale.

c) The Refusals Book to be examined on a regular basis (at least weekly) by the licensee/DPS and date and time of each examination to be endorsed in the book.  Analysis of staff refusals and data such as the time/day of refusals to be carried out by the licensee on a regular basis in order to predict trends and identify staff training and compliance issues.

d) The Refusals Book to be kept on the licensed premises and made available for inspection by the Licensing Officer, Trading Standards or the Police at any time during the licensed hours.

In reaching its decision the Sub Committee have taken into account the conditions proposed by the Metropolitan Police which were agreed by the Licensee/DPS. 

These conditions have been added as the Sub-Committee have decided it is necessary to do so for the promotion of the licensing objective of the Prevention of Crime and Disorder.