Agenda item

Following objections received, to consider an application to review the premises licence for Bargain Beers and Wine, 126 Frimley Road, Camberley, Surrey GU15 2QN.

·         Annex 1 - Application for the review of a premises licence received from Surrey Police Force

·         Annex 2 - Current Premises Licence and Floor Plan

The Sub-Committee was informed that the hearing had been convened to decide an

application from Surrey Police to review the premises license held by Bargain Beer and Wine, 126 Frimley Road, Camberley, GU15 2QN.

The Sub-Committee was advised that the application had been correctly completed and had been advertised, and responsible authorities notified, in line with statutory regulations.

The Sub-Committee carefully considered all the information presented, both written and oral, from:

·         the Licensing Officer who outlined the issues;

·         the Applicant (Surrey Police)

·         the Licence Holder; together with reference to the Licensing Objectives: Prevention of Crime and Disorder and Protection of Children from Harm, the Council’s own Licensing Policy and the Secretary of State’s guidance.

The Sub Committee noted that no additional representations had been received from any of the Responsible Bodies or any other persons. 

The Sub Committee noted the concerns raised by Surrey Police in their application including:

Crime and Disorder/Protection of Children from Harm

·         The CCTV system was not operational at the time of the reported robbery. 

·         The Designated Premises Supervisor had been unaware of the reported robbery when the Police Licensing Officer contacted him two days after the event.

·         Staff at the premises maintained that they had received no training in relation to licensable matters despite having worked at the premises for a number of months.

·         The Designated Premises Supervisor appeared to be unaware of the conditions of the Premises Licence when the Police questioned him about them.

·         There were no entries in the Sales Refusal Log Book.

The Sub-Committee also took note of the fact that;

·         Ensuring that staff training on the Licencing Act 2003 occurred regularly was a condition of the Premises Licence.  The apparent failure to train staff who had been in employment at the premises for a number of months was a clear breach of this licence condition.

·         Ensuring that the premises had CCTV that was maintained in good working order and fully operational at all times when the premises were open was a condition of the Premises Licence.  In failing to ensure that the CCTV was working on the day of the reported robbery the licence holder had breached the licence conditions.

·         Those working at the premises knew the majority of their customers and had not had reason to question a customer’s age.  It was confirmed that no test purchases had been carried out on the premises since the Licence had been granted.

In reaching their decision, the Sub Committee took into consideration the representations made in relation to the prevention of crime and disorder. The Sub-Committee acknowledged the Licence Holder’s admission that appropriate procedures had not been place in relation to staff training and CCTV maintenance and that steps had been taken to rectify the situation.  The offer to replace the Designated Premises Supervisor and ensure that the Designated Premises Supervisor was present at all times in the future was also noted.

However, it was considered that the concerns raised in the application clearly breached the conditions placed on the Premises Licence and that this in turn undermined the relevant licensing objectives. From the representations made, the Sub Committee lacked confidence that the Licence Holder would trade as a responsible body.

The decision making process was a matter of judgement by the Sub Committee and having weighed all the evidence provided by Surrey Police, as the applicant, and the Licence Holder the evidence came down clearly in favour of revoking the licence. The Sub Committee considered that the Licence Holder had failed from the outset to sufficiently consider the processes and policies required to ensure that the four licensing objectives were being promoted adequately.

On balance, the Sub Committee decided that not revoking the Premises Licence, would have an adverse impact on the promotion of the four licensing objectives: Prevention of Crime and Disorder, Public Safety, Prevention of Public Nuisance, and Protection of Children from Harm and found no justification to follow any other course of action.

RESOLVED that the Premises Licence held in respect of Bargain Beer and Wines, 126 Frimley Road, Camberley, GU15 2QN be revoked.