Agenda and draft minutes

Licensing Sub-Committee - Monday, 4th February, 2019 10.00 am

Venue: Committee Room 6 - Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge UB8 1UW. View directions

Items
No. Item

42.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

None.

43.

Declarations of interest in matters coming before this meeting

Minutes:

None.

44.

To confirm that the items of business marked Part I will be considered in Public and items marked Part II will be considered in Private

Minutes:

It was confirmed that all items were marked as Part I, and would therefore be considered in public.

45.

Matters that have been notified in advance or urgent

Minutes:

None.

46.

Review of a Premises Licence: Roc Cottage, Swakeleys Road, Ickenham, UB10 8DG pdf icon PDF 144 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Introduction by the Licensing Officer:

Mr Steven Dormer, Licensing Officer at the London Borough of Hillingdon, introduced a report relating to an application for a review of the premises licence for Roc Cottage, brought by the Metropolitan Police due to concerns that the managers of the premises were not upholding the crime and prevention objective of the licensing act 2003.

Section 182 guidance 11.27 was referred to, setting out the powers for review relating to the employment of persons without legal right to work or stay in the UK. In this instance, the premises had received two visits by Immigration Officers, in September and November 2018. On each visit, staff members were arrested and investigated for immigration related offences. Arrests for immigration offences, and staff not being aware of their obligation to the conditions of licence, reduced the chances of the premises being effective in supporting the crime and disorder objective of the Licensing Act 2003.

On both visits, Immigration Officers found the management to be ineffective in checking the documentation of staff they were employing at the premises. Upon visiting for the second time, it was apparent that preventative measures had not been put in place ensure that all staff had a legal right to work in the UK.

Whilst none of the premises licence conditions were witnessed as being breached, the management of the premises were failing to uphold the licensing objectives, most notably ‘prevention of crime and disorder’.

It was therefore recommended that the Sub-Committee revoke the premises licence taking into consideration the statutory powers 11.19 of section 182 guidance.

The Chairman sought clarity on the matter of the transfer of the premises licence and variation of DPS, as referred to within the report. Mr Dormer confirmed that ordinarily, such a transfer would take approximately 14 days to process. In this instance, the managers of the premises submitted incomplete paperwork, which significantly delayed the processing of the transfer request.

Representation by the Applicant:

PC Dave Butler of the Metropolitan Police addressed the Sub-Committee as applicant for the review, and provided a summary of the background to the review as set out in the Committee papers. PC Butler was accompanied by Mr Jonathan Burton, of ICE.

ON 21September 2018, officersfrom theImmigration Complianceand Enforcement Team (ICE), instigated an investigation into the employment of illegal workers at the restaurant. TheICE Teamfound 8members ofstaff workingon thepremises, preparingand cookingfood. One member identifiedherself asthe personin chargeof the restaurantand wassubsequently clearedas a residentin theUK andentitled towork.

Theremaining 7staff werespoken toby officers,of whom5 were foundto beillegally presentin theUK withno rightto work.All 5subjects werearrested aspersons liable to beremoved. Allthe arrestedsubjects statedthat theylived inrooms abovethe premises.

Duringthe visit,the ownerMr. ZehaoWang attendedthe premises  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.