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Meeting: LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE Date of Meeting: Title of Report: Licensing Act, 2003

Superstar Boudoir, 241B Lord Street, Southport PR8 1NY Report of: W. T. Milburn Environmental Protection Director Contact Officer: K.T. Coady,

Senior Licensing Officer 0151 934 2946

Purpose of Report To give consideration to an application for the grant of a Premises Licence. Recommendation(s) The Sub-Committee’s instructions are requested. Corporate Objective Monitoring

The Corporate Objective Monitoring does not apply to this Sub-Committee as the Sub- Committee is acting in a quasi judicial capacity.

Financial Implications None. List of background papers relied upon in the preparation of this report Application for the grant of a Premises Licence

This report contains Yes No

CONFIDENTIAL information

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EXEMPT information by virtue of paragraph(s) ... of Part 1 Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972

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Is the decision of this report DELEGATED?

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1.0 APPLICATION DETAILS

Application: Grant of a Premises Licence Premises: Superstar Boudoir, 241B Lord Street, Southport, PR8 1NY Ward: Dukes Applicants: Mr Perry James Cain Representative: Mr Karl Barry, Security Ergonomics Designated Premises Supervisor: Mr Perry James Cain Licensable activities applied for:

• The sale of alcohol by retail (on and off the premises);

• The provision of regulated entertainment - live music;

• The provision of regulated entertainment - recorded music;

• The provision of entertainment facilities - making music; and,

• The provision of entertainment facilities – dancing

Days of Operation Hours of Operation

Monday to Sunday 10.00 to 06.00

• The provision of late night refreshment

Days of Operation Hours of Operation

Monday to Sunday 23.00 to 05.00

Hours premises to be open to public:

Days of Operation Hours of Operation

Monday to Sunday 10.00 to 06.00

1.1 The applicants also wish the following non standard timings to be applicable:

From New Years Day 06.00 until 06.00 on 2nd January every year 2.0 DETAILS OF PROPOSED OPERATING SCHEDULE 2.1 GENERAL

The Licence Holder states that the premises will observe and adhere to the following: Protection from Harassment Act 1997; Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001; Private Security Act 2001; Sexual Offences Act 2003; Food Safety Act 1990 Amended

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Regulations 2004; Serious Organised Crime and Disorder Act 2006; Regulatory Reform Safety Order 2006; Health Act 2006; and, Miuse of Drugs Act 1971.

2.2 THE PREVENTION OF CRIME & DISORDER

i) The premises shall utilise SIA Registered Door Staff as and when required. ii) Door Staff details shall be recorded in the Local Authority Log Books. iii) A fully serviced CCTV System with 31 day data storage capacity shall be utilised. iv) CCTV DPA 1998 Registration. v) Appropriate CCTV "warning" signage shall be displayed on the premises. vi) Signage reminding patrons to leave open vessels containing alcohol on the

premises shall be displayed. vii) There shall be an enforcable zero tolerance towards harassment policy in force. viii) There shall be an enforceable zero tolerance to drugs policy in force.

2.3 PUBLIC SAFETY

i) A “Smoke free” policy and signage. ii) There shall be a fully maintained fire alarm, fire extinguishers and a regularly

reviewed fire risk assessment and emergency evacuation procedure in force at the premises.

iii) There shall be a first aider on site and a fully maintained first aide kit. iv) Staff trained in basic food hygeine and adherence to the “Safer Food Better

Business Model”. v) A good housekeeping regime. vi) A trade waste and pest control contracts.

2.4 THE PREVENTION OF PUBLIC NUISANCE

i) A “Smoke Free” policy and signage displayed on the premise. ii) Windows that face the nearest accommodation shall be closed at 22.30. iii) Signage reminding patrons to have regard for local residents when leaving the

premises shall be displayed. iv) Sound regulating equipment or strategies as per requirements of the

Environmental Health Department. 2.5 PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM HARM

i) Access to the premises shall be restricted to 18+. ii) ACPO approved identification shall be required where doubt concerning a

patron's age arises. iii) The premises shall utilise the Local Authority Trading Standards "Knock Back"

scheme. 2.6 ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS AGREED FOLLOWING REPRESENTATIONS

The applicants have also agreed to the below Conditions being inserted on the Licence. This being in response to representations received from Merseyside Police and subsequent negotiations; as a result of this agreement representations have been formally withdrawn.

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MERSEYSIDE POLICE CONDITIONS

1) CCTV shall be provided in the form of a recordable system, capable of providing pictures of EVIDENTIAL QUALITY in all lighting conditions particularly facial recognition.

Cameras shall encompass all ingress and egress to the premises and all areas where the sale/ supply of alcohol occurs. Equipment shall be maintained in good working order and be correctly time & date stamped, recordings shall be kept in date order, numbered sequentially and kept for a period of 31 days and handed to Police on request. The Recording equipment and tapes/discs shall be kept in a secure environment under the control of the Premises Licence Holder or other responsible named individual.

2) Appropriate signage representative of the above in conspicuous positions.

3) Between the hours of 2200hrs – 0600hrs 4 (Four), SIA registered Front Line

Door Supervisors will be employed at all times.

3a) SIA Front Line Door Supervisors will wear smart clearly marked attire utilising at least the words ‘SECURITY ATTENDANT” and clearly display their licence at all times.

3b) A Door Supervisors Logbook will be used at all times that front line door

supervisors are operative and will be presented to the Police upon demand (Logbooks are supplied free of charge by Sefton Local Authority Licensing Unit).

4) No Persons Under the age of 18 years will be allowed on the premises after

2200hrs.

5) No open Vessels Glasses, bottles or alcohol containers will be allowed to be taken from the premises.

6) Tempered glass or plastic vessels will be used at all times. 7) Toughened glasses will be used for spirits. 8) Occupancy levels will be strictly monitored at all times and presented to the

Police upon demand. 9) A holder of a personal licence holder will be on the premises from 2200hrs till

the termination of trade when the premises is engaged in licensable activities. 10) A strict admittance policy must be prominently displayed at the access point to

the premises in bold print. 11) No access to the premises will be permitted after 0230hrs (Entrance Policy).

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12) All Bar staff to undertake appropriate training to a minimum of BIIAB level 1

within 1month of commencing employment at the premises. 13) A bottle bin will be sited near to the main entrance all bottles will be removed

from patrons prior to exit. 3.0 OBJECTIONS/REPRESENTATIONS RECEIVED 3.1 Representations have been received from Merseyside Fire & Rescue Authority and

two interested parties. 3.2 Merseyside Fire & Rescue Authority

Merseyside Fire & Rescue Authority object to a licence being issued for the regulated activities applied for under the public safety objective. They state that they have been unable to verify the public safety in the premises.

A copy of the Fire & Rescue Authority’s memo setting out the representations is attached in Annex 1 to this Report.

3.3 Interested Parties

The below mentioned interested parties make representation under the public nuisance objective Mrs M Carey 239 Scarisbrick Hotel, Lord Street PR8 1NZ Scarisbrick Hotel Plc 239 Scarisbrick Hotel, Lord Street PR8 1NZ

A copy of their representations are attached in Annex 2 to this Report.

4.0 ADDITIONAL LICENSING INFORMATION 4.1 Paragraph 9.24 of the Guidance issued under Section 182 of the Licensing Act states

that as “ a matter of practice, licensing authorities should seek to focus the hearing on the steps needed to promote the particular licensing objective which has given rise to the specific representation and avoid straying into undisputed areas. A responsible authority or interested party may choose to rely on their written representation which gave rise to the hearing. They may not add further representations to those disclosed to the applicant prior to the hearing, but they may amplify their existing representation”. Paragraph 9.25 continues: “in determining the application with a view to promoting the licensing objectives in the overall interests of the local community, the licensing authority must give appropriate weight to:

• the representations (including supporting information) presented by all the parties;

• this Guidance;

• its own statement of licensing policy; and

• the steps that are necessary to promote the licensing objectives”

4.2 Paragraph 9.26 states that the “licensing authority should give its decision at once, unless the Act itself states otherwise and provide reasons to support it. This will be

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important if there is an appeal by any of the parties. Notification of a decision must be accompanied by information on the right of the party to appeal. After considering all the relevant issues, the licensing authority may grant the application subject to such conditions that are consistent with the operating schedule. Any conditions imposed must be necessary for the promotion of the licensing objectives; there is no power for the licensing authority to attach a condition which is merely aspirational. For example, conditions may not be attached which relate solely to the health of customers rather than their direct physical safety”. Paragraph 9.27 states that “alternatively, the licensing authority may refuse the application on the grounds that this is necessary for the promotion of the licensing objectives. It may also refuse to specify a designated premises supervisor and/or only allow certain requested licensable activities. In the interests of transparency, the licensing authority should publish hearings procedures in full on its website to ensure that interested parties and others have the most current information”.

4.3 In addition to the above, Paragraph 10.12 states that “(i)t is perfectly possible that in

certain cases, because the test is one of necessity, where there are other legislative provisions which are relevant and must be observed by the applicant, no additional conditions at all are needed to promote the licensing objectives.”

4.4 SEFTON’S STATEMENT OF LICENSING POLICY

PUBLIC SAFETY Paragraph 3.7 advises applicants when making licence applications, in providing evidence within the Operating Schedule that suitable and sufficient measures will be in place to address the Public Safety objective, to consider the following matters in particular:

• The safe occupancy capacity of the premises, in particular having regard to floor area and means of escape;

• The age, design and layout of the premises, including the means of escape;

• The nature of the licensable activities provided, in particular the sale of alcohol;

• Hours of operation;

• Customer profile (age, disability etc);

• The necessary Health and Safety and Fire risk assessments for the premises, and other measures to reduce risk to public safety;

• The number of people employed or engaged to secure the safety of all persons attending the premises or event;

• Where appropriate, noise exposure controls, for both staff and public, which have been detailed in accordance with the appropriate legislation;

• Arrangements to ensure that litter, generated by activities at the premises, does not prevent a fire hazard;

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• Implementation of appropriate crowd management measures PUBLIC NUISANCE In relation to the prevention of public nuisance objective, paragraph 3.9 advises applicants to consider the following matters when making an application:

• The type of activity, its frequency and the number and nature of customers likely to attend;

• Measures taken, or proposed, to prevent noise and/or vibration escaping from the premises given its location and proximity to residential and other noise sensitive premises. This would include music, plant noise and human voice, whether amplified or not;

• Measures taken to prevent the transmission of sound and/or vibration to adjoining properties;

• Measures taken, or proposed, for management and supervision of the premises and open areas to minimise unreasonable disturbance by customers and staff arriving or leaving the premises, including the delivery of goods and services;

• The proposed hours of operation for all, or parts, of the premises;

• Measures taken to prevent cooking odours and other smells escaping from the premises;

• Means of access to and egress from the premises, including customer entrances and exits on principal pedestrian routes;

• Whether routes to and from the premises pass residential premises;

• Whether the premises would result in increased refuse storage, disposal problems or additional litter in the vicinity of the premises, including measures taken to ensure the collection and disposal of litter and waste outside the premises;

• Measures to be taken to reduce drunkenness on the premises;

• If appropriate, a ‘wind down’ period between the end of the licensable activities and closure of the premises;

Should the applicant identify possible sound leakage from the premises paragraph 3.10 indicates that the Authority would expect this to addressed in practical ways, such as:

• Keeping doors and windows closed and providing adequate mechanical ventilation, or if necessary, air conditioning;

• Reducing sound levels and installing a sound limiting device to prevent sound exceeding the appropriate level;

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• Installing soundproofing measures to contain sound and vibration

In premises where customers leave late at night, or early in the morning paragraph 3.11 states that the Authority would expect the applicant to have included, in the Operating Schedule, such practical steps as:

• Erecting prominent notices at the exits to the premises asking customers to leave quietly and not to slam car doors;

• At appropriate time making loud speaker announcements to the same effect;

• Instructing door staff to ask customers leaving the premises to do so quietly;

• Reducing the volume of music towards the end of the evening and where appropriate playing quieter, more soothing music as the evening winds down;

• Improving availability of licensed taxis or private hire vehicles to take customers from the premises;

• Refusing entry to people known to regularly leave in a noisy manner;

• The supervision of any queues so as to keep noise and disturbance to a minimum

4.5 GUIDANCE ISSUED UNDER SECTION 182 OF THE LICENSING ACT 2003

PUBLIC SAFETY Paragraph 2.19 states that “Licensing authorities and responsible authorities should note that the public safety objective is concerned with the physical safety of the people using the relevant premises and not with public health, which is dealt with in other legislation. There will of course be occasions when a public safety condition could incidentally benefit health, but it should not be the purpose of the condition as this would be ultra vires the 2003 Act. Accordingly, conditions should not be imposed on a premises licence or club premises certificate which relate to cleanliness or hygiene”.

Where there is a requirement in other legislation for premises open to the public or for employers to possess certificates attesting to the safety or satisfactory nature of certain equipment or fixtures on the premises, Paragraph 2.26 states that “it would be unnecessary for a licensing condition to require possession of such a certificate. However, it would be permissible to require as a condition of a licence or certificate, if necessary, checks on this equipment to be conducted at specified intervals and for evidence of these checks to be retained by the premises licence holder or club provided this does not duplicate or gold-plate a requirement in other legislation. Similarly, it would be permissible for licensing authorities, if they receive relevant representations from responsible authorities or interested parties, to attach conditions which require equipment of particular standards to be maintained on the premises. Responsible authorities – such as health and safety authorities – should therefore make clear their expectations in this respect to enable prospective licence holders or clubs to prepare effective operating schedules and club operating schedules”.

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With regard to safe capacities Paragraph 2.27 states that they “should only be imposed where necessary for the promotion of public safety or the prevention of disorder on the relevant premises. For example, if a capacity has been imposed through other legislation, it would be unnecessary to reproduce it in a premises licence. Indeed, it would also be wrong to lay down conditions which conflict with other legal requirements. However, if no safe capacity has been imposed through other legislation, a responsible authority may consider it necessary for a new capacity to be attached to the premises which would apply at any material time when the licensable activities are taking place and make representations to that effect. For example, in certain circumstances, capacity limits may be necessary in preventing disorder, as overcrowded venues can increase the risks of crowds becoming frustrated and hostile”.

PUBLIC NUISANCE Paragraph 2.32 states that “the 2003 Act requires licensing authorities (following receipt of relevant representations) and responsible authorities, through representations, to make judgements about what constitutes public nuisance and what is necessary to prevent it in terms of conditions attached to specific premises licences and club premises certificates. It is therefore important that in considering the promotion of this licensing objective, licensing authorities and responsible authorities focus on impacts of the licensable activities at the specific premises on persons living and working (including doing business) in the vicinity that are disproportionate and unreasonable. The issues will mainly concern noise nuisance, light pollution, noxious smells and litter”.

Public nuisance is given a statutory meaning in many pieces of legislation. Paragraph 2.33 states that “it is however not narrowly defined in the 2003 Act and retains its broad common law meaning. It is important to remember that the prevention of public nuisance could therefore include low-level nuisance perhaps affecting a few people living locally as well as major disturbance affecting the whole community. It may also include in appropriate circumstances the reduction of the living and working amenity and environment of interested parties (as defined in the 2003 Act) in the vicinity of licensed premises”.

Paragraph 2.34 states that “Conditions relating to noise nuisance will normally concern steps necessary to control the levels of noise emanating from premises. This might be achieved by a simple measure such as ensuring that doors and windows are kept closed after a particular time in the evening to more sophisticated measures like the installation of acoustic curtains or rubber speaker mounts. Any conditions necessary to promote the prevention of public nuisance should be tailored to the style and characteristics of the specific premises. Licensing authorities should be aware of the need to avoid unnecessary or disproportionate measures that could deter events that are valuable to the community, such as live music. Noise limiters, for example, are very expensive to purchase and install and are likely to be a considerable burden for smaller venues”.

Paragraph 2.35 continues “as with all conditions, it will be clear that conditions relating to noise nuisance may not be necessary in certain circumstances where the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Noise Act 1996, or the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 adequately protect those living in the vicinity of the premises. But as stated earlier in this Guidance, the approach of

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licensing authorities and responsible authorities should be one of prevention and when their powers are engaged, licensing authorities should be aware of the fact that other legislation may not adequately cover concerns raised in relevant representations and additional conditions may be necessary”.

Where applications have given rise to representations, any necessary and appropriate conditions should normally focus on the most sensitive periods, paragraph 2.36 stating “for example, music noise from premises usually occurs from mid-evening until either late evening or early morning when residents in adjacent properties may be attempting to go to sleep or are sleeping. In certain circumstances, conditions relating to noise in the immediate vicinity of the premises may also prove necessary to address any disturbance anticipated as customers enter and leave” .

Paragraph 2.37 states that measures to control light pollution should also require careful thought. “Bright lighting outside premises considered necessary to prevent crime and disorder may itself give rise to light pollution for some neighbours. Applicants, licensing authorities and responsible authorities will need to balance these issues”.

Paragraph 2.38 underlines that “in the context of preventing public nuisance, it is again essential that conditions are focused on measures within the direct control of the licence holder or club. Conditions relating to public nuisance caused by the anti-social behaviour of customers once they are beyond the control of the licence holder, club or premises management cannot be justified and will not serve to promote the licensing objectives”. Paragraph 2.39 continues: “beyond the vicinity of the premises, these are matters for personal responsibility of individuals under the law. An individual who engages in anti-social behaviour is accountable in their own right. However, it would be perfectly reasonable for a licensing authority to impose a condition, following relevant representations, that requires the licence holder or club to place signs at the exits from the building encouraging patrons to be quiet until they leave the area and to respect the rights of people living nearby to a peaceful night”.

Finally Paragraph 2.40 states that “the cumulative effects of litter in the vicinity of premises carrying on licensable activities can cause public nuisance. For example, it may be appropriate and necessary for a condition of a licence to require premises serving customers from take-aways and fast food outlets from 11.00pm to provide litter bins in the vicinity of the premises in order to prevent the accumulation of litter. Such conditions may be necessary and appropriate in circumstances where customers late at night may have been consuming alcohol and be inclined to carelessness and anti-social behaviour”.

5.0 RECOMMENDATION 5.1 The Sub-Committee’s instructions are requested.

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Annex 1

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Annex 2

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