Venue: Council Chamber & Blue Room, Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF. View directions
Contact: Katherine Davis (01903 737984)
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Election of Chairman Minutes: Prior to the commencement of the meeting it had been agreed that Councillor McDougall would chair the meeting. The Chair then invited all parties present to introduce themselves. |
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Declarations of Interest Members and Officers are reminded to make any declarations of pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interests that they may have in relation to items on this agenda and are reminded that they should re-declare their interest before consideration of the item or as soon as the interest becomes apparent.
Members and officers should make their declaration by stating :
a) the item they have the interest in b) whether it is a pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial c) the nature of the interest Minutes: There were no declarations of interest made.
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Items not on the Agenda which the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances Minutes: The Chair confirmed that there were no urgent items for this meeting. |
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Exempt Information The Committee is asked to consider passing the following resolution: -
That under Section 100a (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and accredited representatives of newspapers be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act by virtue of the paragraph specified against the item. Minutes: The recommendation to enter into exempt business was proposed by Councillor Worne and seconded by Councillor Haywood.
The Sub-Committee
RESOLVED
That under Section 100a (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and accredited representatives of newspapers be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act by virtue of the paragraph specified against the items.
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Licensing Act 2003, S51 Application for review of a premises licence The Authority is in receipt of an application to review a premises licence for a premise known as Pop In, 14 High Street, Littlehampton, West Sussex, BN17 5EE. It has been requested that the application be held in exempt business due to ongoing investigations. Minutes: The Chair noted that this hearing was being held in closed session following a request by the applicant to have the review held in camera due to ongoing criminal investigations. He advised that it was a formal hearing that would follow the hearing procedures approved by the Licensing Committee held on 23 June 2023.
The licence holder, Mr Ahmedi, had not arrived by the time the hearing at the hearing due to start at 2.30pm. It was confirmed that the licence holder had received notification of the Review Hearing and had been advised that Regulation 20 of the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005 specified that the hearing could be adjourned to a specified date or proceed in their absence. The Sub-Committee considered that the Licence Holder was notified of the hearing and the consequences of failing to attend and agreed to proceed in his absence at 2.50pm.
The Chair asked if any representations had been received to enable the hearing to be dispensed with and was advised by the Licensing Officer that none had been received. The hearing was then formally commenced.
In line with the Council’s licensing procedure, detailed representations were heard from all parties present.
The Licensing Officer presented the report which outlined the detail of a case of a review application from West Sussex County Council Trading Standards for the premises known as 14 High Street Littlehampton West Sussex BN17 5E. On the basis that the licensing objectives, in respect of the Prevention of Crime and Disorder, Public Safety and the Protection of Children from Harm had been seriously undermined.
West Sussex Trading Standards and Sussex Police each presented their case. There were no questions asked by the Sub Committee. The Council’s Lawyer advised that if any questions were raised by the Sub-Committee during deliberations then they could call back the parties to answer those questions.
All parties were given the opportunity to sum up. The Sub-Committee then retired to consider its decision.
On reconvening the meeting, the Chair read out the following statement:-
The licensing Sub-Committee noted that the Licence Holder, Mr Ahmedi, was not present at the start of the meeting which was due to start at 2:30 PM and considered that he had been advised of details of the Review Hearing and Regulation 20 of the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005 in which the hearing could be adjourned to a specified date or proceed in their absence. At 2:50PM, the Sub-Committee considered that the Licence Holder was notified of the hearing and the consequences of failing to attend and agreed to proceed in his absence.
The Sub-Committee has considered the representations made by Sussex Police and West Sussex County Council’s Trading Standards Team made orally during the review hearing and within the report as to whether the following licensing objectives had been undermined:
· The Prevention of Crime and Disorder · Public Safety · The Protection of Children from Harm
In addition, the Sub-Committee also considered the following:
• LA 2003’s statutory licensing objectives |