The Committee considered all representations at the hearing. The Committee also considered the Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy, the Licensing Act 2003, the Regulations made there under, the Guidance issued by the Secretary of State under Section 182 of that Act and the Licensing Objectives.

Legal Issues.

1.    An additional statement was presented from Adele Officer dated the 20^th of September 2018 in respect of a visit to the premises on the 6.6.18 during which it was noted alcohol was displayed but no licence was in force.

2.    GMP also made reference to an email received from a colleague, (Rachel) of the Applicant providing further information regarding the Operating Schedule and as to how the licensing objectives would be upheld.

These documents were admitted by way of Regulation 18 of The Licensing Act 2003 (hearing) regulations 2005 with the consent of the Applicant and all parties.

This was a new Application for a premises licence. The Applicant explained she had held a Personal Licence since 2017 issued by Nottingham Council. Red Restaurant had opened on the 10.5.18 but she had not yet started as the Manager there.

She addressed the additional statement presented regarding the presence of alcohol on the shelves of the premises on the 6.6.18 when there was not a premises licence in place and explained she had been brought in and advised them to remove the items and stop selling them immediately.

Objections raised to the grant of the licence by all of the Responsible Authorities attending had been on the basis the Applicant had not demonstrated a sufficient understanding of the requirements of operating a licensed premises due to the lack of information presented in the Operating Schedule.

In respect of this, the Applicant presented documentation to support staff training and the recording of the same and was able to demonstrate her understanding of the licensing objectives when questioned by the attending Responsible Authorities. She also reassured the Committee the licence sought was for customers dining at the restaurant only which was aimed at the family market.

As a result of this, GMP and Trading Standards confirmed they had no further objections to the granting of the licence.

The Out of Hours team still objected on the grounds the ‘prevention of public nuisance’ in respect of the use of refuse bins, noise from customers/dispersal etc.

The Committee noted there had been no representations by local residents in respect of any concern of nuisance and also noted there were other similar businesses in the vicinity. They were satisfied the Applicant would be able to address any issue in this regard by way of conditions attached to licence and also noted the hours applied for were not extensive i.e. midday to 2200.

The Committee was satisfied the Applicant was fully aware of the licensing objectives and had been able to answer questions as to how these would be incorporated into the operating schedule.

They noted this was a new premises with new staff and again were of the opinion that appropriate conditions could be placed on the licence to address training in respect of ‘Challenge 25’ and dealing with intoxicated customers.

The premises had CCTV already installed and again, maintenance of recordings could be incorporated into the conditions of the licence.

The Committee was therefore satisfied that the licensing objectives would not be undermined in any way and granted the licence with conditions in addition to the mandatory conditions.

Decision

To grant the application subject to the mandatory conditions and the following additional conditions.

Conditions

1. The premises shall install and maintain a comprehensive digital CCTV system. All public areas of the licensed premises, including all public entry and exit points The CCTV cameras shall continually record while the premises are open to the public and recording shall be kept available and unedited for a minimum of [28] days with the date and time stamping.

2. All staff shall be trained in recognising signs of drunkenness, how to refuse service and the premises duty of care. Documented records of training completed shall be kept for each member of staff. Training shall be regularly refreshed and at no greater than 6 monthly intervals. Training records shall be made available for inspection upon request by a police officer or an authorised officer of Manchester City Council.

3. In addition to any other training, the premises licence holder shall ensure that all staff are trained to prevent underage sales, are aware of and prevent proxy sales, maintain the refusals log, enter sales correctly on the tills so the prompts show as appropriate, and that they monitor staff to ensure their training is put into practice.

4. Documented records of training completed shall be kept for each member of staff. Training shall be regularly refreshed and at no greater than 6 monthly intervals. Training records shall be made available for inspection upon request by a police officer or an authorised officer of Manchester City Council.

5. The supply of alcohol shall only be to a person seated taking a table meal there and for consumption by such a person as ancillary to their meal.

6. Alcohol shall not be removed from the premises.

7. Customers will not be permitted to enter the premises between the hours of 2200 and 1200 hours daily.

8. The premises shall have a documented Duty of Care policy for managing intoxicated and vulnerable customers at the premises. The policy shall also include provision for persons refused entry to the premises who are also considered vulnerable by staff.

9. A log (which may be electronically recorded) shall be kept detailing all refused sales of alcohol. The log should include the date and time of the refused sale and the name of the member of staff who refused the sale. The log shall be available for inspection at the premises by the police or an authorised officer of Manchester City Council at all times whilst the premises is open.

10. No noise shall emanate from the premises nor vibration be transmitted through the structure of the premises that gives rise to a nuisance.

11. Staff shall monitor customers smoking outside the premises on a regular basis and ensure patrons do not cause a public nuisance.

12. There shall be a documented dispersal policy.

13. Notices shall be prominently displayed at all exits requesting patrons to respect the needs of local residents and leave the area quietly.

14. At the end of trading each day, the pavement from the building line to the kerb edge immediately outside the premises, including gutter/channel at its junction with the kerb edge, shall be swept or washed, and litter and sweepings collected and stored in accordance with the approved waste storage arrangements.

15. The premises and immediate surrounding area shall be kept clean and free from litter at all times the premises are open to the public.

16. The emptying of bins and bottles into skips and refuse collections will not take place between 2300 and 0700 Monday to Friday and 2300 and 0800, Saturday and Sunday.

17. Internal and external lighting to be fixed to the premises to promote public safety.

18. The premises shall display prominent signage indicating in all areas where alcohol is located that it is an offence to buy, or attempt to buy, alcohol for a person under the age of 18.

19. The Challenge 25 scheme must be operated to ensure that any person who appears to be under the age of 25 shall provide documented proof that he/she is over 18 years of age. Proof of age shall only comprise a passport, photo card driving licence, an EU/EEA national ID card or similar document, an HM Forces warrant card, or a card bearing the PASS Hologram.

20. The premises shall display prominent signage indicating in all areas where alcohol is located that the Challenge 25 scheme is in operation.

21. A log shall be kept at the premises to record all refused sales of alcohol for the reasons that the person(s) is/are, or appear(s) to be, under 18 years of age. The log shall record the date and time of the refusal and the name of the member of staff who refused the sale. The log will be available on request by the police or an authorised officer of Manchester City Council. The log shall be checked on a regular basis by the Designated Premises Supervisor to ensure that it is being used by staff and each check shall be recorded in the log.