Licensing Sub Committee - Thursday 5 February 2026, 6:30pm - Tower Hamlets Council webcasts

Licensing Sub Committee
Thursday, 5th February 2026 at 6:30pm 

Agenda

Slides

Transcript

Map

Resources

Forums

Speakers

Votes

 

Welcome to our Webcast Player.

The webcast should start automatically for you. 

Webcast cameras are not operated by camerapersons; they are automated and linked to speaker microphone units. The aim is to provide viewers with a reasonable visual and audio record of proceedings of meetings held in public.

Note: If your webcast link appears not to be working, please return to the Webcast Home Page and try again, or use the help email address to contact us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share this agenda point
  1. Webcast Finished

Thank you.
Thank you.
We'll sign in a few minutes.
Is that all right?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good evening and welcome to the licencing subcommittee.
My name is Councillor Shubo Hussein.
I'm the chair of the licencing subcommittee.
This meeting is being held in person.
Committee members and key participants are present in the meeting room and there are
some participants online.
This meeting is being filmed for the Council's website and public viewing.
I would like to remind members at the meeting to only speak at my direction and to speak
clearly into the microphones to ensure that their contributions can be properly recorded.
There are hearing aids available for anyone in the public gallery having problems with
the sound. Can members and officers please introduce themselves? So I'll start with
APPLAUSE
LEN unpdrive
APPLAUSE
Jonathan Melnick, Legal Advisor.
Simi Yasmin, Democratic Services.
Ibrahim Osenlei, Licencing Officer.
Thank you.
We have no apologies, but do members have any declarations of pecuniary interest?
I have none.
I don't have either.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Can members please note the rules of procedure on pages 9 to 18 of the agenda?
Thank you.
Can members please note and agree the minutes of the meeting held on 11 December 2025?
Thank you.
Could Simi kindly announce the application, please?
Thank you, Chair.
For the first application for item 4 .1 we have an application for a new premises licence for I .M.
cafe 30 fashion street London E16PX and they can be found on pages 25 to 84.
For this chair we have the applicants present Mr. Enrico Basso, Mr. Gaterno Basso.
As for the objectives we have Mr. Moshin Ali representing licencing,
Nicola Cadzo representing Environmental Health and Mr Ian Canning who has joined online.
After the application has been presented, the applicant will be invited to speak and
you will be given a total of five minutes to make your representation.
The objectors will also be given five minutes each to make their representation.
I will let each speaker know when you have one minute remaining.
Please note that the subcommittee have read the agenda pack in advance.
Thank you, Chair.
Can I ask the licence officer to introduce the report, please?
Thank you, chair.
This is an application for a new premises licence for I am cafe, 31st street, London
E16 PX.
This falls within the cumulative impact area.
This application, the applicant expresses the premises include a ground floor university
cafe inside known as IM Cafe and a ground floor event space.
The cafe serves food and drinks to students, staff and visitors.
And the event space is used for fashion or school events.
A copy of the licence application is included in Appendix 1, page 31 to 48.
The applicant is reduced licencing activities hours to 21 hours.
Can be found on Appendix 11, page 74 to 75.
Sense of alcohol onsales Monday to Sunday 10 a .m. to 9 p .m.
applicant offered to reduce from 23 hours.
Opening times Monday to Sunday 8 a .m. to 1130 hours.
Photograph of the premises are included in Appendix 2, page 49 to 52.
The site plan of the venue is included in Appendix 3, page 53 to 54.
Map of showing the vicinity are included in Appendix 4, page 55 to 56.
Details of other licencing venues in the immediate vicinity are included in Appendix 5, page
57.
The hearing is secured by the Licencing Act 2003 because relevant representation has been
made by the following.
Licencing authority, which can be found on Appendix 6, page 59 to 63.
Environmental protections, Appendix 7, page 64 to 66.
We have two residents who made a presentation which can be found on appendix 8 and 9 from
page 67 to 71.
Representations have been made under the licencing objective due to cumulative impact area, noise
disturbance, concern of drink being taken outside, causing prevent obstruction and public
safety.
Public Safety to Access
The applicant's response to environmental protection is shown on the
Appendix 10, page 2072 -73.
The applicant has listed methods to support the licencing objective members
should review this and add any condition they think are needed,
which can be found on Appendix 12, page 76 to 83.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you.
Do members have any questions to the licencing officer?
Can I now ask the applicant to make their representation?
You have five minutes.
Hello, everyone.
My name is Enrico Bauzo.
I have been working on the restaurant business since I am 18.
I'm 47 now. I apply in London 2015 with a legal licence and I have since then.
I've been working in London for more than 10 years now and we never had any issue with the legal licence.
We take over the coffee shop, EM Coffee, and we work as coffee shop and food supplier for the students.
We spoke and worked along with the director of the university that we want to give some service of alcohol as well
during all the events that the university organises during the year.
And sometimes giving some drinks in the afternoon to socialise with the staff as well and the students who are there inside all day.
Just because we think working inside the university is like a source of all and is very easy to control everything,
especially with all this year of experience that we have behind us.
The university does a lot of events and we apply normally with a 10.
We ask for the event to do and we normally is granted from the council.
We wanted to apply until 11 o 'clock in the beginning just because a couple of events
during the year are supposed to stay longer.
We understand that it was probably too late after we received all the feedback from you
and we decided to reduce to 9 o 'clock in the evening and all the events normally inside
the university were not open to the public at the moment, I mean it's closed only for
the students.
At the door there is always a security person that can be sure that people don't go outside
with glass or drinking outside.
And 9 o 'clock in the evening I think is a good time that is not going to be a problem
about the sleeping point of view and we can manage pretty much all the outsides with the
security person at the door.
Personally, as well, for the coffee shop, it's not easy to work only with coffee and food.
Even for us, try to stay alive in London at the moment, to have some extra and work with the university,
with the alcohol, it could be a socialised event as well.
A glass of wine or a beer for a student before going home is probably a good thing as well for them to socialise.
as long as we keep control of everything and we make sure that we use the challenge 25,
we have everything, we have CCTV on the bar and where we organise the event.
I don't see, to be honest, any problem different than what we have at the moment
without the alcohol on our point of view.
But I am happy to clarify if you have any questions to answer.
Thank you very much.
Sorry, last thing. For the licence, Saturday, Sunday, I don't know where it came out, but we are closed.
There is no university. For us, it's only Monday to Friday. We never ask for Saturday and Sunday.
I don't know why it's there, unless there is a mistake on the application.
But the university is Monday to Friday only. Thank you very much.
Can I now ask the objectors to make their representations?
You have five minutes each.
Thank you, Chair.
The licencing authority's representation is in pages 60 to 63.
So going through my representation, in terms of the licencing policy, in 2024 the policy
was reviewed and the Council decided to retain the policy and expand the Brick Lane area
to include some additional area.
Because the Council was of the view that the concentration of licenced premises within
the Brick Lane area was having an accumulated impact on the licencing objectives, namely
prevention of crime and disorder, prevention of public nuisance.
So therefore the conclusion was that granting further licences would be inconsistent with
licencing authorities' duty to permit the licencing objectives and therefore this was
continued.
So the owners and the applicant to show how they do not or will not add to the continued
impact negatively.
Although the hours are within the framework hours, it shouldn't be seen as the standard.
The licencing authority should pay particular attention to the local neighbourhood when
carrying out the licenseable activities. I would refer to the residents representation
which you will hear soon in terms of their experiences so they can expand on what existing
issues they have and how this application will have an impact on them.
In relation to the plans of the premises, it's not clear exactly which area they're
proposing to use
The applicant has described the princess as a coffee place, but then if you look at condition four they've agreed with the police
It suggests that they have a capacity of 140 seated
240 people standing
Which they may wish to clarify to you in terms of what the capacity of the premises will be
So in conclusion the licence and for it is concerned that if you add another licence to the area
that it will negatively impact on the CIA,
adding to the existing non -social behaviour,
and the public nuisance, through access and egress,
and the addition of alcohol could change the dynamic
of customers in our experience,
and impacting on the already saturated area,
therefore undermining the licencing objectives.
I've suggested four conditions,
if members are minded to grant the application,
and that's my representation, thank you.
Can I now ask Nicola, the Environmental Health Officer, to speak?
Thank you, Chair.
My representation is on page 65 and 66.
I'm looking at this at the licence and objective for French for public nuisance and the fact
that the premises is in the CIS.
Whilst the application was for less than framework hours, considering it has to be given to the
Live Music Act, and as the venue is applying to licence to sell alcohol.
On the operating schedule, on the original application, there was a condition that noise
levels will be monitored, especially during events, to ensure they don't cause a disturbance
to neighbouring properties, and that's on page 41. Now, that's quite a general and not
very specific condition, so that was a concern, but I understand that they have offered some
conditions which are on page 73 and three of the points on here, the first one about
events will be limited to occasional functions taking place on the ground floor. In practise
these events will usually conclude by 21, 2100 and only one or twice a year will finish
2300 hours.
Is it confirmation that it's definitely finishing at 9 o 'clock because on one of these conditions
it's not very clear because they've said there's the...
Definitely 9 o 'clock.
Can we go through these...
Sorry.
Could you turn your...
Oh, sorry.
I was going to say that was in page 75, it makes very very clear that it's 2100 every day.
I think just worth, sorry to interrupt, and this shouldn't count towards Nicola's time,
but there is, I think the suggestion was that there is no application in relation to Saturday and Sunday,
although I have had a cheque of the application and they are referred to,
but it is worth bearing that in mind as well, so I'll make sure we presume it.
Thank you. And then one other condition we are happy for, no amplified music condition,
which that we can't consider because they're only going to be operating before 11 o 'clock
so the live music comes into effect and any conditions added won't be enforceable.
Now, just to finish on my representation, as Mosin has mentioned, the application is
from 140 to 240 people in the premises, so I don't see any conditions on how they're
going to address people leaving the premises in high spirits. I appreciate they've reduced
But 140 to 240 people, how are they going to ensure that there's no antisocial behaviour,
no public nuisance from people leaving the venue?
And that concludes my representation. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Can I now hear from Ian Canning, who's online?
Could you stop for a second?
We are struggling to hear you.
If you weigh about 30 seconds we will get back to you.
Could you say hello Ian?
No, it's still not sorted.
I'm going to ask Ian to get a hello.
Ian, could we get a hello?
Hello.
Perfect.
Okay, great.
It's too loud now.
Is it?
Okay, sorry.
I'll go slow.
No.
So, Ian, you've got five minutes.
Yeah so I guess I'm representing a few people that live opposite the fashion school. We definitely
appreciate that like the going to earlier to nine o 'clock just because not on a day like this but
pretty much on any sort of sunny day all of the students tend to congregate outside of the fashion
school and it's quite a social space outside of the school and what looks like isn't a
residential street actually is a residential street with kids and people studying and so
on and people going to school. So I guess we were worried about that sort of nine, well that till
11 .30 every night. I think it's really important that the weekends aren't a part of it because
the weekends is when the fashion school is not open and it's the only time when we can return
the street to being sort of a residential space rather than a sort of
university slash residential space and I think there is a concern about being
able to keep students with drinks inside the venue I think so as long as there's
reassurances that that can happen and that people aren't leaving and hanging
around after nine o 'clock with a drink in their hand or intoxicated I think
that's fine. I get it's a tough world and people need to expand their businesses, but
we all live here and we like our street, but we don't like the sort of noise level that
this could possibly provide, especially with people en masse leaving at nine o 'clock when
suddenly the drink is turned off. So yeah, I think we're concerned about the noise levels.
We're concerned about how people are going to leave the space. And we're really concerned
about how there's going to be a control of a lot of students who are going to want to
start drinking outside if they don't feel they want to drink inside.
Thank you. You have an opportunity.
I just wanted to answer some questions to this. When is my time anyway?
Ian, you can turn your mic off. Thank you.
Now, do members have any questions to either party? Can I start off? What did you want to answer?
Yes, I wanted to answer as well something. I mean, it's not going to be party or university or events every day.
When we introduce alcohol, normally we're not talking about a large number of people.
The coffee shop is still not that big.
Then on a normal basis, we're probably going to have 10 -20 people that could stay there and socialise
and then leave for 9 o 'clock.
But it's a normal service, the school closes at 8 o 'clock every day.
Then probably even before 9 they will go 8, 8, 13.
No one will tell security to make sure they're not going outside with a drink.
We do have some events during the year where we're going to have an extra number of people.
But the university already has a large capacity, they've got 800 students and they've got a very large ground floor.
And we agree with the police with the number of people we can afford to have inside, either stand or sit down.
And they told us that number, we didn't choose the number.
Then the party and the number has been chosen together with the police.
and this event that we're going to organise once in a while,
they've got the space and we do have the lock -out to go in
from the university inside this ground floor.
It's almost like separate from the entrance as well.
Councillor Ahmed.
Thank you, Chair.
This question to the applicant, can I firstly ask that,
what is the operational hours, the opening hours of your café,
And what is the capacity of your cafe in terms of customers?
How many customers can you serve or accommodate in that cafe?
And the hours from the coffee shop 8 .30, 7 o 'clock in the evening
is the time that we're doing this. We got a capacity of 25 people.
We apply for our call again 10 to 9, but if it's 10 o 'clock it's a problem, we can move it from 12 o 'clock.
I don't think morning is a problem. We apply as a standard timing, but this one we could change it.
We don't have a problem with that. It's more for the afternoon.
But the capacity is 25 and we trade from 8 .30 to 7 o 'clock in the evening,
unless there is any particular event and we stay a little bit longer open.
Thank you for that. And the other question is, to the applicant chair, is
if we were to have the licence, permission to serve alcohol,
what sort of capacity again you're expecting to serve in the terms of customers?
We can keep a 225 on a daily basis.
in the cafeteria.
Inside the coffee shop.
Not when there is any event.
Thank you for that.
Thank you, sir.
Councillor Mia.
I have two questions.
Number one is your operating time is until 11pm.
So how are you going to make sure that you are not
going to give any alcohol after 9pm?
And the person who will be in charge
or duty, how they will make sure that people are not serving alcohol after 9pm, number
one. And secondly, the fashion institute is densely populated residential area surrounding
by and how you make sure that people are not taking overdose and when they go out they
are not getting involved with antisocial behaviour or noisense, how you are going to control
it.
The coffee shop at the moment is closing at 7. If we're going to get the licence granted, we're probably going to stay till 8 if people stay to drink.
We don't know yet. Probably people are not going to stay till 25. We don't make money and we're still closing at 7.
Then we're never going to stay open after 9 o 'clock because the university closes at 8.
then that's the time we're going to close down the door.
Last drink is going to be served probably 8 .30, 9 o 'clock.
Everyone must be out.
There is always a security person by the door that we instruct them
when we have the licence that no one must go out with the drink on his hand.
And we're going to remind all of them when they go out,
they need to keep quiet and go directly to the underground.
Like I said before, we have a lot of experience.
If someone is drinking too much or someone is drinking more than two drinks and you act
strange, you're going to stop drinking the person.
We're going to ask ID to everyone and we're going to make sure we don't have any problem
with all the service.
Question from me to the applicant.
What practical steps would you take to prevent alcohol from being taken outside and causing
disturbance or obstructions to the nearby residents.
I do the double cheque, one inside the coffee shop
to remind them to not go out with the drink, plus
the person at the door is instructed to cheque everyone who goes out
and they can stop them and ask them to leave the drink inside before they go out.
Thank you, and could you confirm
there is no vertical drinking?
I don't know the meaning of the word.
So as in, are your patrons going to be drinking when they're on the table or not just standing
near the bar and drinking?
No, we don't have the space to do the standing drinking.
It's not like a pub, it's still a coffee shop.
People that can order a drink, we give it the seat on the table.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Just a question for Mr Ali first of all.
Can I just ask, I think you quoted a couple of hundred capacity potentially.
I was just wondering where that figure came from.
That's the capacity the applicant has agreed with the police.
So in their supporting documents, they've submitted an agreement with the police
and it's the condition 4 in there.
So page 77.
Condition...
That's specifically for events.
Okay, thank you, that's very helpful.
I think following on from that...
...you're proposing only to have 25...
You can see there's a bit of a discrepancy.
You're saying it's 25 people, but you've agreed a condition with the police
that says within the ground floor event space which is outlined in red.
And then we're also slightly confused
because we don't actually have a copy of a plan with red edging.
And I was going to speak to the plans.
We can clarify the capacity issue first of all
and whether that condition is going to be applied.
The capacity issue is because we've got two different places inside the university.
We've got the coffee shop where the capacity is 25.
And then on the other side after you pass the security,
there is a ground floor where we host the events that has got
the capacity of 140 people sitting and 240
standing, but it's not at the coffee shop. It's still inside the university on the
ground floor, but when you go in, you've got the coffee shop on the right, you've got the ground
floor on the left, which is very huge where we agree with the policy that we can
have this number. But normally this is only used if we have an event, not on a daily basis. On a daily basis
we only go to the coffee shop.
That's very helpful. Is there a copy of the papers
in front of the applicant? Do you have the bundle in front of you, sir? Can we get them to spare? I'd like them to...
Thank you.
this 70, sorry members, it's page 54 is what I'm looking at.
So if we look at page 54,
so you've got obviously what looks like quite,
it's the, right,
OK, can I just, if you can,
so we've obviously got a nice long area,
So in effect the whole bit, we've got the cafeteria, and I'm sure Mosin and Nicola are looking as well,
the cafeteria is the place where you're going to have 25 people.
And that's the bit where you want the licence, yes?
Or do you want the licence for the whole...
It is for the whole play, okay.
Because in the Grand Floor, basically the licence is for the cafeteria and the Grand Floor.
The Grand Floor is only when we do the event.
But in terms of the events, how many are you planning on having?
Roughly, I appreciate this isn't going to be binding, but it would be useful for members.
and for the other parties to get a set.
We did eight events so far on the last...
Two per month, roughly.
Normally it's a welcome student when they start to come into school,
when there is an ISTA or whatever.
It's like two or three per month, no more than that.
If the committee were minded to grant the application,
and I suspect the cafe part isn't the more problematic part,
but obviously you've got two events a month where there's potentially a couple of hundred people in the premises.
That's obviously slightly different.
Is there any thought being given to simply operating under temporary event notices for that?
Inside the university there is always this number of people. It's not like they're coming just for the event.
I mean, if you can ask the ten, two, three times a month, but it doesn't change the number, it's not like there is a bus bringing 150 people to come and party inside the university.
I mean the event is for the student inside that place and I think it would be easier
to be included on the licence and have the coffee shop as well instead of applying probably
two to three times a month for the event because it doesn't really make a difference I think.
I suppose the point is though, and for members there's going to be something of a difference between having a licence that operates generally every day for 25 people in the cafeteria,
but on random occasions and potentially every day, which is obviously what you're going to be asking for under this licence.
In theory, every day you could hold an event and that's going to fundamentally change potentially what you're proposing to do,
That's what the committee are going to be concerned about.
So if you could perhaps address that.
If for the ground floor we need to ask the 10,
I think as a legal licence I can ask 250 a year, I think.
For me it's not a problem.
As long as we are for the cafeteria, I don't mind asking for a 10.
It's probably going to cost me a little bit more, I don't know.
But it's not a problem this for us.
We could do it.
If it's easier, we could ask for the bigger than the 10,
one to ten months, and we could have a fixed legal licence
for the coffee shop for the 25 people.
Thank you, that's very clear.
Blue Mushin, did you want to come in?
Just a point of clarification, is it 9 o 'clock for the events as well, or is the events going
to be for 11 o 'clock?
That's just a point of clarification.
So I think what's just been explained is that with the cafeteria, they're happy to go with
the licence for the cafeteria for 25 people and that's going to be to 9 o 'clock
and any other events they can obviously operate under tents.
So what will happen is of course it will just be if they want to use the wider space
then there will be a tent and the licenced area will effectively only be the cafeteria.
Which then presumably addresses your concerns to a large part.
Yes.
Can I answer or no?
For the large event, the cafeteria is always going to be 9 o 'clock max.
For the large event, I would say 80 % of them are probably going to be 9 o 'clock as well.
Like we say, it's probably going to be 10 -20 % of events,
and it could be anything later, but we ask the 10 and we apply
and we will receive a temporary licence, I think.
Thank you, Mr Bausol.
Did you want to comment? Were you saying something?
Mr. Amoshen Ali?
We were just saying you can't condition 10s when you grant a 10, they won't have any conditions on it.
Technically that's not necessarily true because obviously if the 10 covers part of the whole of the premises
then of course it can include conditions if the committee thinks it's appropriate.
Mr Ahmed.
Thank you, Chair.
I can ask another question for the applicant.
The sketch is displayed or submitted as accurate, I believe, yes?
So on your cafeteria...
The sketch of the cafeteria, you mean?
So on that sketch...
The table is slightly different but the size is accurate.
I didn't ask that.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
So on your sketch it shows more than 25 capacity, if I'm correct?
This is why I was going to say that the tables are different from the sketch.
I know you want, this is what I was saying before.
From the sketch only the table looks different from the sketch.
I think what the Mem is asking is obviously the capacity in the cafeteria, I'm way too
I can barely see that assuming I'm of course, mr. Ahmed's counter. Ahmed's rather is calculations are correct
It's always open to the committee to impose a capacity condition in that area
So could you kindly confirm it's 25 seats
25 seats
Just lastly I want to ask the objector Ian
what their views are and if they have further worries on the congregation of students?
Just that the security guard is going to have the power, like one security guard is going to
have the power to make all of the students go back in if they're not like that's the thing
we'll all just be obsessed about that because normally people that normally there's quite a
social gang that just sort of hang outside and smoke.
So we sort of have to deal with all of them
smoking outside of our houses all the time.
But if everyone's kept inside and everyone leaves quietly,
then that's gonna be fine.
I agree, 100 people leaving all of the thing
with people with their kids in their front bedrooms
and everything is a completely different matter.
But I think 25 people leaving quietly at nine o 'clock
is totally manageable and appropriate.
But yeah, I think we worry about whether the security guard is going to have the ability to maintain all of the rules.
For the big event, we are probably five, six people working and we're going to help the security as well to make sure when they're going out they leave the drink inside.
For the daily basis that's part of the university, all the people outside as well.
It's not necessarily the cafeteria.
I mean there is a lot of students that during the day they stay outside.
It's true, they have their own drink, it's true, the smoking is true.
But that's nothing to do with the cafeteria on a daily basis.
Thank you Mr. Maso.
Can I now ask for concluding remarks, starting with the objectives.
You have a minute each.
Thank you, Chair.
In conclusion, the premises remains within the CRZ,
so that should be considered.
However, the conditions offered and the times reduction
with the capacity, it mitigates the concerns of licence
for prodigy to the point where we meet the RAT.
However, if you're minded to grant,
we will still suggest the conditions that we have requested.
Thank you.
Can I now ask Nicola for her concluding remarks?
Thank you.
As Mohsin said, there are concerns about the CIS, but the fact that they have offered to
reduce the hours and limit the numbers is very reassuring.
But there is still some of these conditions that are pointed out that just wanted to be
bit clearer but yeah thank you. Thank you. I get concluding remarks from Mr Ian Canning.
Yeah I think also the not having it on Saturday and Sunday is also an important aspect for all
of us I think just to when the university shut that we're also not having people drinking coming out.
Thank you.
Now could I ask for concluding remarks from Mr Baso, please?
You have one minute.
First of all, thank you everyone to listen to us, and as well as this new thing starting on this new place as well,
we are happy to listen to everyone, work with the council, work with the police.
We try to do our best and we are going to make sure to follow all the rules to make sure there is no mistake or disturbance for anyone.
And nothing else to add really. Thank you very much.
Thank you Mr Baso. We will now thank you for everyone's contributions today.
The subcommittee will deliberate in a private session and after the meeting ends the Democratic Service will send out the decision to all parties
in the next five working days.
Thank you for coming down today.
Cheers.
And just to let everyone know, we're going to be moving on to Agenda 4 .3.
So we'll be hearing 4 .3 first.
So just switching agendas around.
good
Please.
No journal.
Let's go.
the application.
Thank you, Chair.
Item 4 .3 is application for a new premises licence for basement and ground floor 49 Brick
Lane London E16PU.
We have those that are present on behalf of the applicant, Mr Duncan Craig, who is the
legal rep.
We have Mr Dipin Patel, the applicant present, and Linish Rodics, the DPS, and Peter Coinsby,
the licencing consultant.
We also have the objector, Ms Sinead Hayward, local resident who is also present and will
be speaking.
Once the application has been presented, the applicant will be invited to speak and will
give a total of five minutes to make your representation.
The objector will also receive five minutes to make your representation.
I'll let you know when you have one minute remaining.
Please note that the subcommittee have read the agenda pack in advance.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Can I now ask the applicant, sorry, actually, can I ask Ibrahim Hussein, licence officer,
to introduce the report, please?
Thank you, chair.
This is an application for a new premises licence for the ground floor and basement
14 and Brooklyn E1, 6PU.
The premises located within the Brick Lane CIA cumulative impact area.
A copy of the application is shown in Appendix 1, which can be found on page 4952519.
Reason for the application.
The application states that the premises already operate under a licence held by the landlord.
The tenant is now seeking their own licence which will replace the existing one but included
additional conditions.
The request hours of the licencing activities listed in Appendix 1 are available on page
501 to 506.
A copy of the existing licence is enclosed in Appendix 2 which can be found on page 522 -528.
Supporting documentation, photographs of the premises are included in Appendix 3 on page
529 to 534.
The site plan of the venue is included in Appendix 4, page 535.
Maps showing the vicinity are included in Appendix 5 in page 535.
The map showing the vicinity are included in Appendix 5, 5L and 537.
Details of other licenced venues in the immediate vicinity are included in Appendix 6, which
can be obtained from 539 to 542.
This hearing is being held under Licencing Act 2003, following the relevant presentations
submitted by four residents which are set out in appendix 7 to 10 between page 543 to
556.
Essentially, the parties have been made the representation under the licencing objectives
for the following reasons.
Noise disturbance day and nights, concern of late operating hours, public safety and
access to residence flats.
This applicant's response letters sent to the residence object as is shown on Appendix
11, which is shown on 557 to 560.
This application has proposed steps to uphold the licencing objective as the representation
has been made.
Members should now review this and add any condition they consider appropriate and proportionate.
Appendix 12 for application voluntary condition on page 566 to 571.
Condition agreed with the police on Appendix 12, which can be shown on the page 571.
That concludes my presentation.
Thank you, Chair.
// Thank you.
Do members have any questions to the licencing officer?
Can I now ask the applicant to make your representation, please?
You have five minutes.
Thank you, Chair.
Just one thing to correct.
It isn't to replace the existing licence.
It would be to sit alongside it.
And this perhaps is an unusual application, because whilst the premises is situated in
Brick Lane cumulative impact area which has been in situ since 2013.
I'm going to submit to you the overriding principles of that policy don't apply in this
instance or certainly that they don't strictly apply for the reasons that there is already
a licence in situ at this premises and has been actually since at least 24th of November
And certainly through the course of the last 12 years you will have done a number of cumulative
impact assessments that will have taken into account the fact that licence exists at those
premises.
The fact that the licence has or hasn't been operated isn't with respect to consideration
for this committee.
Licence holders can choose to operate licences or not operate licences.
as they see fit at any given time.
What is important is that that licence exists.
So it does change the nature of this application
and how it is viewed.
And what I have to support on behalf of my client
is the fact that there's no responsible authorities who've
made any representations in respect of this application.
Most notably, your licencing authority, whose policy it is.
It's their policy at the end of the day.
And so I don't want to get too bogged down in law.
Obviously this is a public hearing at a local authority, but I just make two points as a
matter of law.
Firstly, you have Section 2 .3 of the Licencing Act, which I will read into the record, which
says nothing in this Act prevents two or more authorisations having effect concurrently
in respect of the whole or part of the same premises or in respect of the same person.
So that's what the legislation says.
And then I did forward it earlier to the panel.
There is a case, namely the extreme oyster case,
which enshrines the fact that two licences on the same site,
one owned by the landlord and one owned by the tenant,
to operate the place, is perfectly acceptable and normal.
And those matters can't be superseded by any local authority's policy.
So just make the point, there's nothing in your policy that makes reference to shadow licences,
So we are dealing with the law as it stands.
I'm conscious of the time.
So what I will say leading on from that is that what there
will be, this licence sitting alongside of it,
will be the same hours as the existing licence that's
been in situ.
And instead of 16 conditions, which frankly aren't that fit
for purpose, and surely in this day and age if those conditions
were put forward as part of any application,
it would be rejected because it's just wholly inadequate.
You then have replaced by that 39 conditions that sit on this licence that have been either
on the operating schedule or that have been added to the licence by way of negotiation
with the police and with the licencing authority.
They sit towards the back of your agenda pack.
The final list of conditions in fact starts at page 561 and carries right through to page
565.
So what you have, if you grant this licence, is essentially the same position as is today,
namely there's a premises licence on the site that can be operated at any time.
If my client was to transfer that licence into their name, for example, there would
be no basis for the police to object to that.
But what you do have is a suite of enforceable, appropriate conditions, many of which are
notably aimed at prevention of public nuisance.
And note the representations that have been made.
I would hope that those before me today can see that my client has made efforts to address
those both in the operating schedule and subsequent correspondence from Mr Condensby who sits
to my right.
But the reality is this premise has a licence, the people who moved into that building, the licence was there when they moved in.
And so as an operation of law from a legal perspective, nothing is changing other than the principles that apply to shadow licences are being applied to this building.
My client is investing a significant sum in the local area and is looking to enhance the
area further.
They had an expectation when they took the lease on that the principles would be followed.
So I'm pleased just going to invite you as a subcommittee to follow those.
It's just gone over five minutes, so I'll wrap up now.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Can I now ask...
And obviously we're here to answer any questions.
I don't have to talk as quickly now, thankfully.
Any button.
Whichever you fancy.
Hello.
Okay.
I want to say thank you very much for having me.
I'm representing all eight of us that live above 49 to 51 Brick Lane.
I just want to start by saying that since construction started in August 20 to 25. We've had absolutely zero
Communication from our landlord from our agency and from the business below us
We've had no idea what's going on and the construction noise has regularly gone past
The noise allowed hours for Tower Hamlets and has gone past till 11 p .m. Regularly
I just want to say that we we believe that the hours
the noise until 2 a .m. Monday to Saturday to be extremely successive and
although this may reflect the old or current licence that is in place, when we
all moved into this building the bottom half of our building had been derelict
for about 20 years and had not been used. We're really really concerned about the
noise level, about social behaviour, we have no idea what the capacity is for
the ground floor. We know the basement will have about 60 people, but we have no idea
about the basement. Alcohol will also be served until about 2 .30 in the afternoon. We have
no idea what the closing time will be, and we're worried about maybe 100 -ish people leaving
about 3 a .m. every night. We also had what we believed was a music test on the 23rd of
December, where we felt the walls and floors of our building vibrate and shake three storeys
up from the basement and I know that in the application you discussed a there'd
be a noise limiter but we we this we feel this is very vague and we don't
know what this noise limit it will be we're very concerned that once it opens
and they could essentially be live music every night from Monday to Saturday and
we have we're worried that because it has been such a lack of communication
communication with us, we have no idea like how we're going to live and how
we're going to communicate with the owners and the venue operators about how
to limit this noise as we are fearing it will affect us. So yeah and I also
believe that this noise licence does not reflect a local area, it goes on about
two hours, two and a half hours past every other local venue that serves
alcohol in this part of Brick Lane and I don't think it reflects using a noise
Licence that was around in 2000 early 2000s reflects modern day brick lane and the people who live above it today
Thank you
Do members have any questions for either boys
Councillor Ahmed thank you chair
Just a quick question if I missed I'm sorry about it. You have resident of that particular private right above the
Are you a lease holder?
Sorry to interrupt.
Basically when one person's mic is on,
the other person has to keep it off.
So, yeah.
Let me finish the question. Sorry about that.
We'll leave enough time.
Are you a lease holder?
Or are you a justice holder?
So, there's eight of us that rent
the two top floors of the building
from our agency.
And I...
We do not... I don't believe that.
I think we are renting the building.
We do not own the lease.
I think that belongs to the landlord.
Or the person who owns the building.
We just rent it from the agency and thus the agency works for the landlord.
Thank you for that.
Councillor, do you have any questions?
I'm a bit concerned about 2am and where you'll operate until 2am.
So again, how you make sure there are less noise or
individual behaviour around the property?
Of course.
I suppose the broad answer to that is that that's the reason
we have conditions on licences.
They can mitigate the negative effects that a licenced premise
can have on the wider community.
And of course licencing is a balancing exercise between the
legitimate business interests of
business owners who want to bring
employment and
Amenities to local area, but I have to take into account the people who live around certainly my client has no desire
If this licence is granted and they're operating the business, it's not in their commercial interest to upset anybody
Who lives locally they want to have a positive?
of interaction with, particularly with the close neighbours.
And I can just say, I will answer your question directly,
but certainly Richard here, who sits with me,
you can have his number and you can have that
to contact him directly.
We're happy to give you that after the hearing,
no issue with that at all.
You can see there on page 511,
And 1 -1, just turn to that please.
There's a huge range of conditions there, all aimed, which just simply don't exist on the existing licence,
all aimed at preventing public nuisance.
So, look, there's one there with a sign, I don't really see what use they have, frankly,
but they seem to be fairly obligatory on modissances.
But there are several other conditions that really are targeted at the issue of preventing public nuisance.
So first of all the noise limiter will be set at a level that doesn't cause nuisance to any neighbouring premises.
So that will be set at volume level that simply can't cause a nuisance to any of our neighbours who live above the pub.
So hopefully the purpose of that is so you're not disturbed by noise coming through the floor.
And there's a further condition that enhances that, which is no noise generated on the premises.
So not just by amplified music, but also by kits such as extraction and other mechanical equipment,
shall be transmitted through the structure of the premise which gives rise to a nuisance.
So again that's a further layer.
All these conditions are enforceable. All these conditions can be enforced by your environmental health and I'm sure will be
if my client isn't complying with those conditions and
Loudscape loudspeakers not to be located in the entrance or the exit the premises are outside the building
All windows and external doors to be kept closed after after 10 o 'clock
except for obviously access and egress of persons and
Condition around removal of rubbish from the premises, restricting that.
No fumes, steam or odour should be emitted from the licenced premise,
so it's a cause of nuisance.
So that's a further aspect that deals with another sort of area of potential nuisance.
Also a requirement for the staff to be trained around their legal requirements
and responsibilities to give consideration to their local neighbours.
Condition around contract for recyclable waste.
Also making sure that the staff regularly cheque the area meeting outside the premises
in terms of removing litter, bottles, glasses to ensure that the area is kept clean and tidy.
Also further condition around cigarette butts.
Also a requirement that I just touched upon for a direct telephone number
for the manager of the premises to be made available, publicly available.
That will be made available and will be today.
and also we need to finesse this and we will be liaising with your environmental health section
but also requirement for dispersals policy in the noise management plan.
There's a hugely comprehensive range of conditions and restrictions that will
actively and purposefully mitigate any potential effects.
It's just wholly different from the licence that's in situ at the moment.
So I would hope that would give you a level of comfort around the requirements that would be placed upon my client.
If they don't comply with those, the licence can be reviewed, it can be revoked, the client can be prosecuted.
And so for all those reasons there are a number of restrictions on this licence that would hopefully give everybody in the local area a level of comfort about how these premises will be operated.
Secondly, just for my understanding, regulated entertainment, is it live music or recorded
music or disco, what kind of entertainment?
Well I'll let my client answer that from an operational point of view, but certainly from
a, I would just make the point that under the Live Music Act a lot of live and recorded
music is deregulated up to 11 o 'clock beyond level o 'clock it isn't and you
wouldn't be able to have regulated entertainment if the audience was more than 500 but
having visited the premises this afternoon there's no way you're getting
anything close to 500 people in there so certainly up to that point
the regulated entertainment wouldn't bite from a licencing point of view but in
So typically throughout the week there will be background music. We will have recorded music and occasional live music.
It's not going to be the main core of our business, but there will be regulated entertainment and live music occasionally.
What do you mean by occasionally? Twice a month?
Probably twice a month at best.
Thank you.
My question is on your conditions proposed on point 2, you say the personal licence holder
will be on the premises during licenceable hours.
Could you confirm if that's personal, like is it alcohol licence or is it SIA licence?
»» A personal licence under the Licencing Act.
So yeah, not an SIA.
But there is an SIA condition that the police have asked for.
But no, that would be a personal licence under the Licencing Act.
»» Could you confirm which condition that is where it requires SIA?
»» It's towards the back of the pack.
If you look at page 563, please, it's condition 15.
You want to read it into the record, chair?
Yep, I can see that.
On Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 2100 hours until closing, there will be a minimum of
one SIA door supervisor on duty.
Further SIA will be hired on a risk assessed basis.
The risk assessment will be written electronic and will be made available to a responsible authority officer at bond request.
Just to follow up, I know you mentioned you were at the site earlier today and you know obviously you won't be able to fit 500.
What's your expectation of capacity on the current venue?
Well there's a condition that only 60 people can be in the basement
and having seen the basement that seems like a sensible number
What do you think? Which of the numbers?
160
160, there we are
Thank you
That's good, that's it, I don't think it would be so precise, but yeah, 160
Thank you, and to follow up on that, how will you, or what
what sort of things are you going to have in place to deter patrons to be standing
outside on Brook Lane with the drinks on the hand or just congregating outside
blocking paveways?
So the staff will be trained to keep an eye on people taking any drinks outside
obviously after nine o 'clock on Thursday Fridays Saturdays we'll have door staff
to stop that happening.
But we won't be promoting drinking outside
and we will be asking people to leave their drinks
if they're leaving the building.
Just go back to the page, sorry,
go back to page 563.
There is a condition at 16 no drinks will be permitted,
that's not even just alcoholic drinks,
no drinks will be permitted to take in outside the premises.
So that hopefully addresses that concern.
Thank you, and I think your client mentioned there's gonna be trained staff who will stop
And is there a designated smoking area?
It's at the front of break line
But there's a there is a condition relating to cigarette books, let me just have to turn back so
Yes, keep condition 30
The licence should provide a safe receptacle with cigarette ends to be placed outside for the use of customers.
The substitute receptacle being carefully placed so as not to cause an obstruction or trip.
Is that all trip? I can't see if there's a number in front of it.
Yeah, it is. Thank you.
Thank you.
So if I could just ask Miss Hayward, because I was curious because I've noticed the similarity between the three representations.
and you said, just to give the Commission an idea of the, you say you've got the top two floors above the, so is that,
are they two separate flats or is it one flat across two floors and all of you share, which I think is probably what it is, but like Rita -Clara?
Yes, so the building is basement, ground floor, first floor, second floor, we live on the second and the first floor,
and it has its own entry way down the alley, so there's the front of Brick Lane and there's the alley,
and then there is an entrance to the underneath in the alley and at the front of the gate into the underneath bit.
Sorry I've just completely lost it. Is it first and second or second and third?
Yes so we live in the first and second floors.
Right there. And are they separate proposes?
They are separate boards.
So there's the front of Brick Lane which has one entrance to the underneath which will be the business
and in the alleyway this is how we get into our building.
So I'm just talking just in terms of your flat, because you say you live with other people,
so your flat is split across two floors, but it's not to say that the flat on the first floor and the flat on the second are two separate flats.
It's the same.
It's the same, thank you.
Mr. Armand, Councillor Armand.
Thank you chair. This question to the applicant.
It's about the music. Obviously the conditions there
you have explained as well. But would you have any special
insulation to instal for the music
not to travel outside? Because obviously
it's very congested and also there's
an area of worshippers who
worship quite near to the premises.
So how would you prevent that not to travel
a little distance away from your premises?
So we've
installed sound insulation on the ceilings
and sound insulation will be installed on the
windows and the frames and the limiting device
That's gonna be put in place. We'll make sure that there is no disturbance to outside the premises
Or upstairs, thank you for that. Thank you chair
All right now moving on to concluding remarks, can I first hear from
Miss Heywood, you've got one minute.
I just want to conclude that we feel that the operating hours of, actually we don't know the operating hours and we don't know when the business will be closing.
We just know they are going to be selling alcohol until 2 .30am Monday to Saturday and the noise is 8am, sorry, 2am Monday to Saturday.
We just find these are it's very excessive and does not reflect the area and we feel that if the noise is very extreme
We will probably will have to move out which two people have already done learning that there will be a bar built underneath us. So
and we would
we'd be very grateful if people if there was
Any effort to change the operating hours of the licence to make it more appropriate for the area and this part of brick lane
Thank you
Can I now ask Mr Craig for your concluding remarks, please.
The opening hours are set out actually on page 508.
They're on the application itself. 508 and 509.
The agenda pack, and I'll just make the point, look at page 542, there are a couple of licences there.
One late out refreshment, to be fair, but there is a by sale of retail alcohol premises there.
that there's licence till 2am. There are other licences in the area that have, there's one
on Brick Lane there that's two in the morning, that have those hours. So it's not an outlier
by any stretch of the imagination and I'll just please again invite you to take into
account the fact that this is in conjunction with an existing licence, it's been part of
the cumulative impact assessment previously on numerous occasions and what we're seeking
here is the same hours for licenceable activities but with much more robust conditions. You
can see from what my client has said how committed he is to the project, to the local area and
I'll just reiterate there is absolutely no interest in my client in operating a business
there that is going to cause a nuisance to the neighbouring properties. He's spent extensive
sums in order to avoid that and I have to say that your environmental health must concur
with that because otherwise they would have made a representation on this application
and they haven't. And my client, whatever miscommunication there has or hasn't been
previously, I'm saying this in an open hearing now in front of the licencing authorities,
licencing subcommittee, my client is more than happy to engage with the people who live
upstairs and we'll pass the number over after the hearing, whatever the outcome is. Thank
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for everyone's contribution today.
The subcommittee will deliberate in a private session after this meeting.
And Democratic Services will send out your decision in the next five working days.
Thank you everyone.
.
London E20AF on pages 85 to 488.
Could I kindly ask Simi, the democratic officer, to announce those in attendance, please.
Thank you, chair.
For this application, chair, we have Ms Debbie Bollard, who has joined online, and Mr William
Kane, who has also joined online.
Chair, there have been no objectors that registered to speak today.
After the application has been presented, the applicant will be invited to speak and
will give a total of five minutes to make their representation.
As there are no objectors present at the meeting, the subcommittee will note and consider the
written objections in the Agenda Pack.
Please note that the subcommittee have read the Agenda Pack in advance.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you.
Can I now ask the applicants, well, Debbie Bullard and William Kane.
I apologise, could I ask the licencing officer to introduce the report?
Thank you, Chair. This is an application for a new premises for the adult gaming centre,
trading as jackpot slots, located at 403 Bethnal Green Road, London E20AF. The full application
is provided in Appendix 1 on page 92 -97. A site plan for the premises is included in
Appendix 2 on page 98. The application is also submitted a local annual risk assessment
together with the relevant policies, procedures and supporting documents, which can be found
on appendix 17, covering page 151 to 487, estimated about 350 pages.
A map of the surrounding area is included in appendix 3 on page 100 to 102.
The hearing is required under the Gambling Act 2005 following representation from the four residents.
This representation are set on appendix 4 to 7 on page 103 to 119.
The committee is asked to know the relevant Gambling Commission guidance which is provided
in appendix 8 to 14 on page 122 to 142.
Finally, the London Borough of Tower Homeless Gambling Policy is included in appendix 15
to 16 on page 143 to 150.
This is the end of my presentation, Chair.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Do members have any questions to the licencing officer?
Thank you.
Can I now ask the applicant to make their representation?
You have five minutes.
Thank you.
Good evening.
I'm Debbie Bollard and I represent the applicant, Cane's Amusements Limited.
It's a small business owned and managed by the Cane family.
They've been operating for five generations.
They are a member of the industry trade organisation BACTA and they trade from six premises around
the south east coast conducting a legitimate business.
They employ local people, contribute to local and national economy, pay business rates and
taxes in many forms.
The gambling industry is heavily regulated hence the large amount of paperwork that's
been included with the application and the additional information in the bundle tonight.
In particular, the applicant, because it is licenced by the Gambling Commission, musters
the condition if its licence comply with the licencing conditions and codes of practise
known as the LCCPs, a copy of which can be found from page 246 onwards in the hearing
bundle.
The applicant also operates its business according to its own compliance policies which reflect
those LCCPs and which included the bundle at appendix 17 from pages 205 onwards.
The applicant will, if it gets the licence, employ nine members of staff with two on duty at any given time and subject to any planning conditions, operate 24 -7.
It is agreed to a condition to use the madlock on the door, particularly after 10 o 'clock, until any closing time.
CCTV cameras will be located around the premises that monitor player positions. The data is recorded and it's remotely accessed live by the operators.
There is also a CCTV camera to be placed on the front door monitoring the outside which
will help to assist with security in the local area.
Staff will undergo full training on the licencing objectives and the licenced conditions and
codes of practise.
Any new staff will always be accompanied by a more experienced member of staff.
Staff are trained on induction and which is refreshed every three months, particularly
on the Challenge 25 policy which includes checking the age of anyone who appears to
under the age of 25 refusing entry to and removing anyone who cannot prove their over 18. How to
identify and refuse entry and remove people who appear to be intoxicated or under the influence
of drugs or in possession of alcohol and drugs. To talk to customers on a regular basis, monitor
customer behaviour, identify customers displaying signs of problem gambling. Staff will be on the
public and those playing the machines. There's always a clear
line of vision in the shop to ensure that customers are seen
by staff. The shop has posters displaying the Challenge 25
policy and signage at the entrance stating no under
ratings, no smoking, no alcohol and CCTV in operation. There'll
be leaflets in the shop on how to gamble responsibly and get
help on problem gambling. The applicant operates a self
exclusion scheme so customers can self exclude from the
premises for a minimum of six months. It also participates in a national multi -operator
self -exclusion scheme so that customers can also exclude from other gambling premises
in the local vicinity. Each member of staff has a mobile panic alarm while on duty and
there's a static alarm fixed to the wall of the office which is linked to the police station.
As the subcommittee will be aware, each piece of licencing legislation sets out a different
approach to the question of grant. The approach relevant to gambling is set out Section 1
of the Gambling Act 2005. It says in exercising their functions under this
part a licencing authority shall aim to permit the use of the premises for
gambling. Insofar as the authority thinks a it's in accordance with any relevant
concord of practise, b in accordance with any relevant guidance issued by the
Commission, c reasonably consistent with the licencing objectives and in
accordance with the local authorities own statement of policy. The points you
need to note when considering this is that the test is mandatory, a licencing
authority shall consider. The obligation is to aim to permit where A &D are
satisfied as described by the Gambling Commission in its guidance. The aim to
permit has been explained in the leading textbook, Paterson's Licencing on Law,
which says that it creates a presumption in favour of granting the premises
licence since it's only the licence is granted that the premises may lawfully
be used for gambling but the duty seems to go further in that the verb to aim as described
in the Oxford English Dictionary means to calculate one course with a view to arrive
at a particular decision. Conditions should only be added where it's necessary to do so
and even then such conditions need to be proportionate to the circumstances. It's the applicant's
case that the appropriate conditions have already been agreed with the licencing authority
and that no further conditions are required.
The Gambling Commission guidance states,
any refusal should be for reasons
which demonstrate the licensing's objectives will not
or are unlikely to be met.
This means demonstrated by evidence.
Conversely, the following considerations
are legally irrelevant to your determination
of the application tonight.
A dislike of gambling, a general notion
that it's undesirable to allow gambling premises in an area,
moral or ethical objections to gambling, the demand for a gambling premises, any planning considerations and nuisance.
In particular, local authorities should generally consider disorder as activity that is more serious and disruptive than mere nuisance.
Factors to consider in determining whether a disturbance was serious enough to constitute disorder would include whether police assistance is required
and how threatening the behaviour is as to whether it could be seen or heard.
There is also case law. I'd remind the committee that makes it clear that the licencing subcommittee should not give excessive weight to their own views on the matter
and should not make a decision without proper evidence.
Arguments as to what might or could happen should be counterbalanced against an applicant's track record throughout its business.
My client has a soundtrack record. There's been no enforcement action taken
against it in its operating of businesses throughout the generations
and particularly since the Gambling Act 2005 came in in 2007. Also it should
be noted that the Metropolitan Police have made no representations as to
concerns about any anti -social behaviour, crime or anything otherwise and that my
client has cooperated fully with the licencing team in agreeing a suite of conditions that
go well beyond what is needed to operate the premises. I would suggest that the representations
that have been made by the entrusted parties are standard, they're on a template, they
shouldn't be given that much weight and that the conditions proposed deal with those in
case thank you thank you
members have any questions for the applicant
yes so councillor Ahmed has just asked what the opening hours are and we're
It's 24 -7 because the certain licence, certain gambling premises are conditioned
and required by the gambling commission to cease at certain times.
Betting shops, for example, I think is 10 o 'clock.
Casinos generally are, whenever AGCs are generally 24 -7,
unless the applicant offers something different.
I find it all clear. Thank you for that.
My question is what, and you mentioned some of the things on vulnerabilities, but what measures will you put in place to protect those vulnerable individuals from the local area that are at risk of gambling harm and entering and using the New Adult Gaming Centre?
Bill, can I leave you to answer that?
Yes, good evening everyone.
Bill Kane, Keynesian Business
So the entrance will be obscure to younger children who may be passing by so they won't
be able to see any gambling product from the street scene.
In terms of protecting against vulnerable people who may be subject to problem gambling
or experienced problem gambling in the past, we are operating a self -exclusion scheme,
as Debbie said and mentioned earlier, which is part of the Moses multi -operational self -exclusion
scheme.
Members of staff are trained to cheque this on the beginning of their shifts.
People can set limits with the machines.
They can take a break.
We have leaflets throughout the venue which may interest customers to take control, but part of our LCC
requirement is to know our customers.
We are
governed by the LCCP to identify problem gambling on potentially vulnerable people.
We must interact with these people
throughout their visit in our venue, albeit for a long time or a short time.
We must register these interactions on our social responsibility tablet which
is called Smart Hub. These are then reported to the Gambling Commission for
review when we submit our returns. We then review these interactions weekly.
The General Manager's job is to review and report back to management each week.
There are just a number of measures that we put in place to protect vulnerable people
throughout our premises every day.
I hope that answers your question.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I just wanted to follow up as well.
Do you have anything in place that recognises regular clients, for example, or knowing that
If for example a
If my if for example myself if I came in seven days for seven days straight
Would you know that or would your staff members know that?
Me or any other individual has come into your premises seven days in a row
Part of the LCCP is knowing our customer so we get to recognise patterns
We try and learn customers behaviour and their type and intensity of play
If we see this is out of the ordinary, we can start to then train to recognise this.
Someone may come in, spend five pounds every day, and that's their normal pattern as they go and collect their groceries. The average
time spent in an AGC has been reported to be anywhere between 15 minutes and half an hour.
So as part of knowing our customers, I would expect and train our staff to recognise
patterns of play and types of behaviour.
and how will you ensure that the premises will not cause disturbance or negative impact
around the residential area or neighbouring areas?
You know, I believe there's local parks, there's schools nearby and I just wanted to know what
measures have you put in place so it doesn't make those negative impacts?
Can I just say that there is no evidence either publicly available that indicates that there
is any problems associated with gambling premises, particularly adult gaming centres. They are
premises where people tend to go on their own, not in groups. They go for 10 to 15 minutes,
half an hour as Bill has said. They don't tend to be associated with crime and most operators of
adult gaming centres have policies and procedures to ensure that anybody who is behaving in a
disruptive manner is moved away. But as I say, there is no evidence available publicly to suggest
that there is any direct correlation between adult gaming centres and antisocial behaviour or any other crime.
Thanks. Councillor Ayas.
I just want to ask you about the adult and children.
Do you have any system in place to identify those are over 18 or certain age limit?
How are you going to monitor the situation?
So we are going to be installing facial recognition.
So that will operate,
I'll assist with our Cheque 25 policy.
It will also help with the original,
the previous question against vulnerability.
So that will help, obviously compliant with GDPR to prevent vulnerable people who may
be excluded from our premises entering.
So the facial recognition will help.
and also staff members are chained with a CHEK25.
We also conduct test purchasing, which is conducted with CHEK policy.
So we're tested on a yearly basis and then the results are reported to the Gamblin Commission also.
So that's just some of the ways we do that.
Thank you for your contribution.
Let's move on to concluding remarks.
Is there any other questions?
Any member want to ask?
Okay.
Let's move on to concluding remarks.
Could I hear you've got one minute.
Okay.
So in conclusion, I'd just like to confirm that my client is passionate about delivering
high quality facilities for gambling in a safe and responsible environment, takes pride
in each of its premises as invested in upmarket products.
The applicant takes seriously its responsibilities to comply with the LCCPs and promote the licencing
objectives and it has a hard -working team of people who are trained from day
one on the policies and procedures. I would suggest the applicant has
demonstrated it's a competent operator, the premises are suitable for purpose,
the provision of gambling in this area is not contrary to the licence
objectives of the Tower Hamlet policy and on the basis of that the applicant's
case the Licencing Committee should grant the application of the Adult
Gaming Centre premises licence. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for everyone's contributions
today. The subcommittee will deliberate in a private session after this meeting ends
and Democratic Services will send out the decision to you all within five working days.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Extension of decision deadline. Simi, could you kindly
Chair, I have no applications to extend.
Thank you.
Thank you all for your contributions.
The meeting is now closed.