Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received fromWSCC Public Health and Sussex Police.

The procedure the Licensing Panelwillfollowin considering the application is set outin the Licensing Act2003,its attendantRegulations and was agreed by the Licensing Committee on 2nd February2005.  The Licensing Panel,in accordance with rule 14 of the Licensing Act2003 (Hearings)Regulations 2005 decide to exclude the public fromallorpartof the hearing where the Licensing Panelconsiders thatitis in the public interestto do so.

None.

Nathan Mountney, Solicitor to the Licensing Panel, confirmed the minutes of the meetings held pm 15 September and 22 September 2023 were a correct record. The Committee agreed the minutes and they were signed by the Chairman.

Introduction and outline of the report

Jon Bryant, Senior Licensing Officer, introduced the report to determine an application submitted by West Sussex Trading Standards to review a Premises Licence of KK News Ltd, Trading as Sparks News, 56 Queens Road, Haywards Heath, RH16 1EE. The review related to the Prevention of Crime and Disorder and the Protection of Children from Harm.

The application to review the licence, pursuant to Section 51 Licensing Act 2003, follows the sale of underage products and the sale of alcohol to a child during a test purchase operation conducted by Trading Standards on the 24^th May 2023, noting subsequent enquiries were made into the incident. Submissions from Responsible Authorities, in support of the review have been received from Sussex Police and WSCC Public Health.

The Panel were asked to determine the application on the evidence presented at the hearing having due regard to the Licensing Act 2003, MSDC Licensing Policy and the Home Office Guidance issued under Section 182 Licensing Act 2003.

The Senior Licensing Officer advised Sparks News (KK News Ltd) of 56 Queens Road, Haywards Heath, RH16 1EE have been licensed for the sale of alcohol for consumption off the premises since March 2017, under License Number PWA0551. The Premises License holder and the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) at the time of the incident in the review application was Ms Lakminy Kandasamy.

He noted the current Premises License and conditions were attached at Appendix 2. The premises is currently licensed for the following licensable activities:

The current opening hours of the premises are:

Sunday: 10.00 – 22.30

Monday to Saturday: 08:00 – 23:00

The premises operates as a local convenience store/newsagent in Haywards Heath within a mainly residential area. Photos of the store are attached at Appendix 3.

The Senior Licensing Officer confirmed there are a number of additional conditions attached to the licence in addition to the mandatory licence conditions including Challenge 25, Digital CCTV in accordance with Home Office Guidelines relating to UK Police Requirements for Digital CCTV System (PSDB Publication Number 09/05), operation of a sales refusal log and incident log book and staff training.

He noted that West Sussex Trading Standards had applied for a review of the premises licence based on the sale of alcohol to a child that took place during a test purchasing operation that they conducted on the 24^th May 2023.

They cite that they had previously received a report on the 30^th of January 2023 that Sparks News was openly selling vapes and liquids to children in Oathall College school uniform, every day after school. The report also stated that this was causing litter and anti-social behaviour. They received three further complaints at the end of March 2023 of the venue selling alcohol and e-cigarettes to 15- and 16-year-old children.

Trading Standards reference a visit to the premises by Mid Sussex District Licensing Team on the 30^th of March 2023  ...  view the full minutes text for item LS.4