Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3, 3rd Floor, Civic Centre

Contact: Kirsty Tuffin, Democratic Services Officer  Tel: 01902 552873 Email:  kirsty.tuffin@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Chris Howell, Licensing Manager and Christian Gregory, Regional Business Manager for Punch Taverns Limited.

2.

Declarations of interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest submitted.

3.

Licensing Act 2003 – Application for a Review of a Premises Licence in respect of The Swan Hotel, 17 Lower Street, Wolverhampton, WV6 9AA pdf icon PDF 242 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

An application for a Review of a Premises Licence in respect of The Swan Hotel, 17 Lower Street, Wolverhampton, WV6 9AA, had been received from West Midlands Immigration Enforcement (Home Office) on 6 February 2019.

 

The Chair led round-table introductions and outlined the review hearing procedure to be followed.

 

Michelle James, Licensing Policy Manager, provided an outline of the application. Stephanie Swann, Immigration Officer, West Midlands Immigration Enforcement, (Home Office), confirmed that the summary was accurate.

 

The Chair invited West Midlands Immigration Enforcement to present their application.

 

Stephanie Swann, Immigration Officer, did so as per Appendix 3 of the report. She stated that an intelligence led operation on 11 December 2018 had discovered that a member of staff at The Swan Hotel did not have the right to work in the UK. The worker was found to have been working for the company for 3 months on £200 a week, cash in hand, working 5-6 hours a day. She advised that this would be below minimum wage.

 

The Immigration Officer requested revocation of the premises licence and if revocation was not deemed appropriate, then she requested that a number of conditions were added to the licence. The conditions requested were as follows:

·         Removal of the DPS;

·         Suspension of the Premises Licence whilst a new DPS was appointed;

·         Right to work checks be carried out on all employees before employment;

·         All documentation regarding these checks would be kept (hard copy or digital) and must be available on demand to any Responsible Authority when requested.

 

The Immigration Officer advised the Sub-Committee that a fine of 15,000 pounds had been served upon the PLH by the Civil Penalty Team.

 

The Chair afforded all parties present the opportunity to question the applicant in relation to her submission. Stephanie Swann, Immigration Officer, provided responses to questions asked.

 

Michelle James, Licensing Policy Manager advised the Sub-Committee that the condition requesting that right to work checks were made before employment as suggested by the Home Office could not be added as it would replicate existing legislation.

 

The Chair invited Matthew Phipps, Solicitor representing the Premises Licence Holder, to make representations. Mr Phipps stated the following:

 

  • Punch Taverns were the Premises Licence Holder (PLH). The tenant, Russel Moreton, rented the premises from them and had his own company called Spirit Pubs Wolverhampton Ltd.
  • The fine of 15,000 pounds from the Civil Penalty team had now been reduced to 7,000 pound and had not been issued to Punch Taverns Limited but to Spirit Pubs Wolverhampton Ltd.
  • Punch Taverns currently had 1,300 pubs in the UK and this was the first review the PLH had received from Immigration Enforcement.
  • Punch Taverns would consider removing Russel Moreton’s tenancy agreement if the Sub-Committee deemed it necessary, but Punch Taverns did not have this view.
  • That the worker found to have no right to work in the UK had been working at the company since the Summer, for roughly 6 months and received £330 a week before tax.

 

The Chair afforded all parties  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.