Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted by Amitabh Singh, Licensing Authority, and Dianne Slack, Trading Standards.

There were no declarations of interest.

An application for a Review of a Premises Licence in respect of The Newsagents, 49 School Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 4LR had been received from West Midlands Police.

The Chair welcomed all parties to the hearing and invited all those present to introduce themselves. All parties did so. He outlined the procedure to be followed and all parties confirmed that they understood the procedure.

The Sub-Committee’s statutory duty was to consider the application and any representations, and to take such steps as contained in the Licensing Act 2003 as it considered appropriate for the promotion of the Licensing Objectives.

Before inviting the officer from Licensing to outline the application, the Chair asked all parties present whether they had received the Supplementary Agenda Pack that was published on 24 October 2022. All parties confirmed that they had.

Anita Chonk, Senior Licensing & Compliance Officer, provided an outline of the application. She advised the Sub-Committee that the Applicant, West Midlands Police, had chosen to formally withdraw their representations from the meeting and were not present.

Angela Bernard, Senior Solicitor, advised the Sub-Committee that West Midlands Police could withdraw their representations no later than 24 hours before the meeting, but that the hearing must still take place as other Responsible Authorities had submitted representations.

The Chair invited the Licensing Authority to make representations. Greg Bickerdike, Licensing Manager, did so as per Appendix 4 of the report and the Supplementary Agenda Pack. He stated the following:

1.         The Premises had shown disregard for the advice of the Council Officers and an ignorance of tobacco control laws.

2.         The Premises was undermining the existing Public Space Protection Order by selling to street drinkers.

3.         The Designated Premises Supervisor was currently failing to uphold the Licensing Objectives and therefore the Licensing Sub-Committee should add additional conditions to the licence.

The Chair invited all parties present to question the Licensing Authority in relation to its submission. The Licensing Manager responded to questions asked.

The Chair invited Trading Standards to make representations. Lee Jenks, Team Leader - Trading Standards, did so as per Appendix 5 of the report and the Supplementary Agenda Pack. He stated the following:

1.         On 4 August 2022, the Premises was found to have a large number of electronic smoking devices with oversized tanks.

2.         These devices were unlawful and contributed to the undermining ofpublic safety.

3.         These devices were subsequently seized.

The Chair invited all parties present to question Trading Standards in relation to its submission. The Team Leader – Trading Standards responded to questions asked.

The Chair invited Public Health to make representations. Nilusha Sahni, Senior Public Health Specialist, did so as per Appendix 6 of the report. She stated the following:

1.         Evidence had shown that the Premises was selling to known street drinkers and that this was not in line with the Licensing Objectives as it further contributed and exacerbated alcohol misuse and harm in the city.

2.         Data showed that Wolverhampton was a regional outlier for alcohol-related harm and had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.