The report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing regarding a new Premises Licence application.

The Hearing Panel considered the written papers and oral representations made by the Applicant as well as the relevant legislation and guidance.

The applicant addressed the Hearing Panel, informing them of their experience in the catering business. The applicant stated that this application was in response to requests from customers. Initial concerns had been raised that the premises would become a full beer garden. The applicant informed the Hearing Panel this would not be the case, the intention was to sell a small quantity of alcohol.

The Panel sought to clarify information in the application that stated the Council would tell the applicant how much to charge for products. The Panel informed the applicant that legally, this could not be the case. The Panel then requested further information on the type of alcohol that would be sold. The applicant stated that in the summer their intent was to sell items such as Pimms and Prosecco, and in the winter, it was their intent to sell items such as mulled wine.

The applicant summed up by stating that the objections of responsible authorities (GMP and Trading Standards) had been withdrawn following agreement on conditions. Objections remained from residents which centred on the licensing times and the transfer of the license in the future. The applicant was informed at this point that transferring the license would be their decision should it be granted.

In their deliberations, the Hearing Panel was satisfied that, based on the information in the application and given at the hearing, the applicants would uphold the licensing objectives. The Hearing Panel did not believe the objections to have enough merit to refuse the application.

Decision

To grant the application subject to the agreed conditions with the responsible authorities:

1. The premises shall install and maintain a comprehensive digital colour CCTV system. All public areas of the licensed premises, including all public entry and exit points and the street environment will be covered, enabling facial identification of every person entering in any light condition. The CCTV cameras shall continually record whilst 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. A staff member who is conversant with the operation of the CCTV system shall be present on the premises at all times when they are open to the public and must be able to produce/download/burn CCTV images upon request by a police officer or an authorised officer of the licensing authority. Any footage must be in a format so it can be played back on a standard personal computer or standard DVD player. Where the recording is on a removable medium (i.e., compact disc, flash card etc.), a secure storage system to store those recording mediums shall be provided.

2. An incident log (which may be electronically recorded) shall be kept at the premises for at least six months, and made available on request to the Police or an authorised officer of the licensing authority, which will record the following incidents including pertinent details:

(a) all crimes reported to the venue, or by the venue to the Police

(b) all ejections of patrons

(c) any incidents of disorder

(d) any faults in the CCTV system or searching equipment or scanning equipment

(e) any refusal of the sale of alcohol

(f) any visit by a relevant authority or emergency service

3. The Designated Premises Supervisor shall ensure that a written notice of authority is kept at the premises for all staff who sell alcohol. The notice shall be made available for inspection upon request of the police or an authorised officer of the licensing authority and all staff selling alcohol must be in possession of formal identification to enable to verify their identity against the notice.

4. The premises shall display prominent signage indicating at any point of sale, the entrance to the premises and 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.

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

6. 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 HM Forces warrant card, or a card bearing the PASS hologram.

7. All staff engaged in the sale of alcohol will be trained with regards to the Challenge 25 policy and sales by proxy. This training will be documented, and training should be refreshed at no greater than 6 monthly Intervals.

8. The Premises Licence Holder will ensure that signage demonstrating the Challenge 25 policy as well as selling alcohol to children by proxy are placed at the entrance to the premises as well as being displayed in all areas serving alcohol.

9. A log shall be kept and record all instances when alcohol has been refused for the reasons that the person(s) is, or appear 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.

10. The Premises Licence Holder will also ensure regular checks are made around the inside and outside of the premises for underage persons encouraging adults to buy alcohol for them.