Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

There were none.

The Chair to move:

“That the public and press be excluded from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that there is likely to be disclosure to them of such categories of exempt information as defined by Section 100(1) of the Local Government Act 1972 as listed against such items of business by reference to the appropriate paragraph of Schedule 12A to such act.”

SUPPLEMENTARY AGENDA

Exempted Under Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972

Para No:-

The Licensing Team Leader outlined the circumstances as set out in the report. It was noted that this was a full review, following an expedited review on 3^rd May 2017 where conditions to the licence and interim steps had been agreed. Members were informed that further representation had been received from Northamptonshire County Council Public Health and Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service.

PC Chris Stevens addressed Members, noting the incident that occurred on 29^th April 2017 and the interim steps that were applied following the summary review on 3^rd May 2017. It was further noted that following extensive consultation between the licence holder and the Police, all 22 conditions had been agreed. PC Stevens commented that the licence holder had been proactive in his approach and that the Police were happy with the bar’s continued operation.

Responding to questions, PC Stevens told Members that the Police were happy for the interim steps to be dropped.

Ian Grieve from Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service addressed Members, stating that a number of deficiencies had been found during their audit on 10^th May 2017. The bar was given 3 months to address these issues but work was already underway to resolve them. It was further noted that an independent fire service was working in conjunction with Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service to assist the bar owners in addressing their issues.

Steven Marks from Northamptonshire County Council Public Health addressed Members, stating that he too was happy with discussions had with the bar owner and agreed to the conditions.

Responding to questions, PC Stevens informed Members that in relation to the incident on 29^th April 2017, the injured person was still refusing to co-operate with Police but it appeared that the weapon used was more likely a blunt instrument; a Police investigation was still underway.

Mark Worthington addressed Members, stating that all staff had undertaken additional training; extra modules, including alcohol related violence, were included. He noted that it was an “examed course” with a BII qualification and that all staff had achieved at least 75%. It was further noted that a Management Folder had been put together, which included licences for both staff and the bar, the “Challenge 21” policy, incident logs, training packages and that search, dispersal and drugs policies were being worked on at the time of the meeting. Mr Worthington also stated that the existing documentation was being revised and would be refreshed every 6 months.

The bar owner then addressed Members. He stated that the implementation of the ID scanners, which were capable of searching their own database as well as the Home Office’s, had been a success; there had been a noticeable reduction in disorder since the policy was introduced.

RESOLVED:

Thank you for attending the Licensing Committee to consider the review of the premises licence for the Balloon Bar, 21 Bridge Street, Northampton, NN1 1NH.

This review is as a consequence of a Section 53a Summary Review Licensing Act 2003 which took place on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.