Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest made.

Applications in respect of Family Shopper, 289 Wood End Road, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, WV11 1YQ had been received by the City of Wolverhampton Council.

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

The Sub-Committee’s statutory duty was to consider the applications 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.

Andrea Forrest, Solicitor for the Premises Licence Holder, Mr Manmeet Chawla, requested a short adjournment so she could speak with the previous Premises Licence Holder, who was in attendance, privately.

The request was granted and all parties, with the exception of the Solicitor and the Democratic Services Officer, withdrew from the meeting.

The Hearing adjourned at 10.42 hours.

The Hearing reconvened at 10.47 hours.

All parties returned to the meeting.

Debra Craner, Section Leader Licensing, provided an outline of the report which had been circulated to all parties in advance of the meeting.

Stefan Polatajko, Senior Officer for Trading Standards, and Andrea Forrest, Solicitor for the Premises Licence Holder, confirmed that the summary was accurate.

Application to Transfer the Premises Licence

The Chair invited Andrea Forrest, Solicitor for the Premises Licence Holder, to present the application to Transfer the premises licence.

Ms Forrest did so as per Appendix 3 of the report and supplementary evidence bundle. She stated the following:

• She had been instructed by her client in December but had been extremely busy.
• Her client did not know that the vapes were illegal and had surrendered them immediately. They were on display and not hidden.
• It was confusing for retailers to know what vapes were legal and her client had made an honest mistake.
• The vapes were purchased from a cash and carry, and private seller.
• The illicit cigarettes found at the premises belonged to someone else and there was written evidence to support that.
• Her client had a gold standard for cigarettes.
• There must be exceptional circumstances to object to a transfer application.
• The licence was for the sale of alcohol and there were no alcohol issues at the premises.
• If the transfer application was granted, the DPS would be varied to a more suitable person as her client was ill.
• Due diligence was now in place at the premises.

The Chair afforded all relevant parties the opportunity to question the Applicant in relation to their submission. Andrea Forrest and Mr Sahib Singh Chawla, the Premises Licence Holder’s son, responded to questions asked.

They stated the following:

• Moving forward, vapes would not be bought from private sellers.
• The illicit cigarettes belonged to a member of staff.
• Her client would return to the premises when he was better and would undertake further training.
• An online application to transfer the licence over to her client had been made in June 2022 but had not been processed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.