We know that some onlinefocus readers are very interested in licensing issues, so here’ s something they might like to look at:<\/p>\n
District Councillors have just<\/em> received the minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee meeting which met on November 30th last year. The sub-committee on this occasion consisted of three councillors – Gibbs , Hudson smd Humphries.<\/p>\n The item for discussion was Rayleigh Food and Wine, 24 High Street. The councillors were told:<\/p>\n \n“since December 2006 there had been 4 instances of underage sales of alcohol at the premises, the first occurring in February 2007, with another in May and 2 further instances in June 2007. ….. the Police considered that there were still problems associated with the sale of alcohol at the premises, despite the best efforts of the premises supervisor and the licence holder. The Police were not seeking revocation of the licence, but were seeking 13 additional conditions to be imposed on the premises licence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In the end the coucncillors agreed that:<\/p>\n (1) That an SIA registered door supervisor be employed to work from 6pm until the close of business each day that the shop is open for trading for a 3-week period, to commence in 28 days.<\/p>\n (2) That the following additional conditions be applied to the licence:-<\/p>\n ? The licensee shall ensure that at all times when the premises are used for any licensable activity there are sufficient competent staff on duty at the premises for the purpose of fulfilling the terms and conditions of the licence and preventing crime and disorder. <\/p>\n ? All staff shall be adequately trained on under age identification and on the requirement not to permit drunkenness on the premises and written training records shall be kept for all staff engaged in the sale of alcohol or other licensable activity. Refresher training will take place at least every 6 months and if possible every 3 months.<\/p>\n ? The premises will run a proof of age scheme. Members of staff will see credible photographic proof of age evidence from any person who appears to be under the age of 21 and is seeking to purchase alcohol. Such credible evidence, which shall include a photograph of the customer, will either be a passport photograph, driving licence, or proof of age card carrying a pass logo.<\/p>\n ? A suitably worded sign of sufficient size and clarity must be displayed at the point of entry to the premises, in the area of the alcohol display, and in a suitable location at the point of sale advising customers that they may be asked to produce evidence of their age.<\/p>\n ? The licensees shall have and maintain an efficient, sound-enabled closed circuit television surveillance system. This should be in operation 24 hours, for 365 days a year. Recordings shall be retained for at least 30 days. The lighting in the premises will be such that the CCTV operates at the best possible level. Recordings to be made available to the Police and the Licensing Authority upon reasonable request. <\/p>\n ? A suitably worded sign of sufficient size and clarity must be displayed at the point of entry to the premises and in a suitable location at the point of sale advising customers that CCTV is operating in the premises. <\/p>\n ? A member of staff should always be on duty that is able to download and burn images off the CCTV when requested by the Police.<\/p>\n ? The licensees shall co-operate with all reasonable projects of the Licensing and Police Authorities to achieve the licensing objectives. <\/p>\n ? Customers who cause any incidents of crime and disorder shall be prohibited from returning to the premises, the length of such prohibition to be determined by the designated premises supervisor. <\/p>\n ? Experienced staff shall be employed to supervise the customers and regular staff briefing meetings shall take place to maintain the four licensing objectives. All new staff shall be adequately trained on safety requirements and all aspects of the licensing act. <\/p>\n ? The licence holder \/ DPS will keep a refusal record to record all refusals of sales of alcohol. This record will be produced to the Police or Licensing Authority for inspection, upon request. <\/p>\n ? The licence holder \/ DPS will keep an incident record to record all incidents that take place on the premises. This record will be produced to the Police or Licensing Authority for inspection, upon request. <\/p>\n ? An SIA registered door supervisor will be employed to work from 6pm until the close of business on Fridays and Saturdays. A door supervisor should be used for the same hours on Christmas Eve, New Year?s Eve and Halloween, whatever days these events fall on. <\/p>\n The meeting commenced at 10.10 am and closed at 1.15 pm.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n ….. Police considered it to be unacceptable for there to be any sales of alcohol to persons under the legal age. Particular reference was made to the Government guidance issued in June under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 which stated that any criminal activity, including the sale of alcohol to minors, arising in connection with licensed premises should be treated particula rly seriously, including consideration of revocation of a premises licence . <\/p>\n