Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

It was confirmed that all items of business were in Part I and would be considered in public.

None.

The Chair, Councillor Becky Haggar, observed that a large bundle of additional information had been received from the applicant’s agent, Mr Noel Samaroo, at approximately 20:30 hours on Sunday 2 June 2024. It was noted that, in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003, the Sub-Committee was at liberty to consider this late evidence should it be minded to. However, it was noted that Hillingdon’s protocol stated that late submissions would only be considered in exceptional circumstances. 

Mr Samaroo was invited to account for the late submission of said bundle of additional information and to explain how the content was of relevance to the Sub-Committee hearing.

The Sub-Committee heard that the Police had waited until the 28^th day to submit their representations in objection to the application. Mr Samaroo had attempted to contact the police a couple of days later, but PC Brown had been unavailable as she was attending a course. Thereafter Mr Samaroo had not been in a position to submit the additional information any sooner due to other commitments. He apologised to the Sub-Committee for the late submission and for the inconvenience caused. Mr Samaroo explained that the information in the bundle was very relevant to the case and addressed some of the points raised by objectors in their representations.

The Chair sought further clarification regarding the relevance of the additional information and why it could not have been submitted sooner. The Sub-Committee was informed that the bundle sought to address some of the concerns raised in the representations submitted, particularly in relation to training, the incident book and Sky TV. Moreover, the pack contained vital information which would assist in answering some of the questions likely to be raised by the Sub-Committee.

The Chair noted that the information had been received extremely late hence it had not been possible to thoroughly review its content. On this basis it would not normally be considered permissible.

All parties present confirmed that they had not yet seen the new information and agreed that it would not be possible to reach a fair decision without first reviewing the new paperwork in its entirety. Mr Samaroo enquired whether mediation would be possible should the matter be adjourned. It was confirmed that legally this was a possibility. Members of the Sub-Committee retired to discuss the next steps.

THE DECISION (Interim)

The decision of the Sub-Committee was to allow for the late submission of evidence by the applicant to be admitted and to adjourn the meeting to 20th June 2024 at 10am to allow for all parties to consider the new evidence in full.

Reasons

In light of the applicant’s representations and in the interests of fairness the Sub-Committee were persuaded to allow the late submission of evidence however, considered that all parties required further time to consider the bundle in full. The Sub-Committee were also mindful of the possibility that the contents of the bundle could be in breach of The Data Protection Act 2018. The most sensible approach would be to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.