Agenda and minutes

General procedure points and hearing procedure for the meeting.

The procedure was noted.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of interests received.

To consider the exclusion of the press and public for the following items of business on the ground that the public interest in so doing outweighs the public interest in the hearing, or that part of the hearing, taking place in public. This is because it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

By Virtue of Paragraph 1: Information relating to any individual.

Condition:

Information is exempt to the extent that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Information is not exempt if it relates to proposed development for which the local planning authority may grant itself planning permission pursuant to Regulation 3 of the Town & Country Planning General Regulations 1992(a).

RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Report of the Director of Customer and Digital.

The Sub-Committee considered a report which advised that a Personal Licence Holder had been convicted of a relevant offence after the grant of the licence and asked Members to determine whether to revoke or suspend the licence.

The Licensing Officer advised that the Licence Holder was granted a Personal Licence pursuant to Section 120 of the Licensing Act 2003 on 9 December 2014 and a replacement Licence issued after a change of address in March 2018. The Licence Holder is currently the DPS of a premises in Chorley.

On 14 August 2019 the Licence Holder was convicted of a relevant offence, namely driving with a blood alcohol level of 49mg per 100mg of breath, above the legal limit of 39mg. Members noted that the Licence Holder notified the Authority of this conviction on 2 September 2019 and, on 9 October 2019, the Authority decided to consider suspending or revoking his Personal Licence. On 18 November 2019, confirmation was received from Preston Magistrates’ Court that the Licence Holder had notified the Court that he held a Personal Licence, as required by Section 128 of the Act; Members noted that the Court did not make an order for the licence to be suspended of forfeited at that time.

In response to questions from the Sub-Committee, the Licensing Officer advised that he did not know whether the effect of food on blood alcohol levels (or lack thereof) was included in the training course for Personal Licences, but that he doubted it was.

The Licence Holder then made his representations, advising that he had worked all day before helping a friend at a pub in Blackburn until just after midnight. He stopped by the a pub in Chorley for a drink on his way back and decided to have a second pint. He acknowledged this was a bad decision. The Licence Holder advised he had then driven back to Chorley dropping a friend on the way and had pulled over to get a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket. The Police had pulled up next to him as his driving had looked suspicious. The Licence Holder stated that he hadn’t eaten all day and had been tired but recognised he had made a very bad decision which he regretted. 

In response to questions from the Sub-Committee, the Licence Holder confirmed he had been at the pub in Chorley for approximately an hour, and that he and was now fully aware of the legal limits. He advised that having his driving licence taken away had drastically affected his ability to work and that if his Personal Licence was revoked or suspended he would have to ask his father to step in as the Designated Premises Supervisor. The Licence Holder stated that this had shown him what a “stupid” decision it had been to have two pints before driving.

In response to further questions, the Licence Holder confirmed that the Personal Licence training did not cover food on blood alcohol but instead focussed on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.100