Stepping up to the plate

Paddy Whur looks at recent ‘Interim Steps’ hearings that he has conducted, leading to licences being suspended, but also highlights how on occasions these can be avoided if operators are willing to work in partnership with the police.

I have represented Dorset Police for the last three years in dealing with their most problematic premises.

As a result of this I have represented them in several summary review hearings against premises which have had significant problems and have not been able to promote the licensing objectives. On each of these occasions the premises licence has been revoked.

Regular readers will have noted that I recently acted for the Dorset Police in relation to premises known as ‘Dusk Till Dawn’ at which a summary review was launched after significant issues with regard to the sale of drugs.

In those proceedings an ‘Interim Steps’ hearing took place without the premise licence holder being present and the licence was suspended.

No representations against those ‘Interim Steps’ were received and at the final review hearing the licensing committee saw fit to revoke the premises licence. The premise licence holder did not appeal the decision and the premises have now remained closed since the ‘Interim Steps’ stage, revocation and now loss of licence.

I have recently been involved in another summary expedited review against another set of premises on behalf of Dorset Police where a first was occasioned by myself and Woods Whur.

These premises had been under close Police scrutiny for some time and a drugs warrant was issued against the premises on 25 October 2012. As a result of the drugs warrant, the premises licence holder, DPS and all other staff working on that evening were arrested in relation to an undercover drugs officer’s evidence.

Dorset Police then launched a summary review at Weymouth Council on 26 October 2012 and the matter came to be heard in the afternoon whilst the premises licence holder was still in custody in relation to investigations of supply of drugs which are ongoing.

Section 53 B (2) of the Licensing Act allows the hearing to take place without the premises licence holder being given the opportunity to attend the ‘Interim Steps’ hearing.

The local authority only has 48 hours from the launch of the summary review to hear the ‘Interim Steps’ hearing and had determined to hear it at 3.30pm on the Friday afternoon.

Paragraph 3.2 of the Home Office Guidance on summary expedited reviews also reconfirms the fact that local authority licensing committees can consider the ‘Interim Steps’ hearing without the premises licence holder being present.

The first came about for Woods Whur and myself in that I was on holiday for half term with the kids. I was over the moon to receive instructions in relation to this matter to allow me to get away from my warring three daughters for an hour to read the papers and advise Dorset Police accordingly.

I was even further delighted when the licensing authority allowed me to make my representations on behalf of the Dorset Police by a conference call link from Lanzarote.

I was able to open the case, call my Police Officer witness and make legal submissions in relation to our request for suspension of the premises licence from a volcanic island.

I am pleased to say that the authority took on board the issues that we had raised and in particular the high level of supply of drugs in the premises, which had led to the launch of the summary review and our real fear for the risk to the public, as a result of the premise licence holder's inability to prevent serious crime from being undertaken at the premises.

The premises licence was suspended at the ‘Interim Steps’ stage and at the time of writing we have had no representations against those steps. All done and dusted in time for me to go and sort out the sibling rivalry of my kids.

It is a testament to the usefulness of the summary expedited review procedure to be used against premises that are seriously breaching the licensing objectives and where serious crimes are being committed to allow for a Superintendent to issue a Certificate to commence the proceedings.

There is more than one way to skin a cat though and Police forces should really consider whether a summary review is necessary to bring about what needs to be achieved at licensed premises.

We have been involved on a number of occasions acting for operators where we have been able to suggest to the Police that we will work with them to effect immediate changes at the licensed premises by way of a voluntary minor variation of the premises licence.

On one occasion we acted for a nightclub operator who had a clean bill of health at their premises without causing difficulty with the Police.

One glassing then took place at the premises and we persuaded the Police that the track record of the operator and willingness to work with the Police in a partnership way was such that there was no need to bring about a summary expedited review.

The operator agreed immediately to decant all bottles into plastic glasses until plastic bottles could be rolled out throughout the premises.

A voluntary minor variation was then lodged at the local authority offering this to be enshrined as a condition on the premises licence thus removing the need for expensive and detailed proceedings to go before the licensing authority.

These are certainly flexible and user friendly tools for Police licensing teams where the seriousness of the criminal offence or disorder really needs the interaction of the licensing authority at the Interim Steps stage. However this may not be the case in all circumstances and if significant cost savings can be achieved by everyone working together to get a balanced and “appropriate” outcome then all the better.

Paddy Whur is a Partner at Woods Whur. He can be contacted on 0113 234 3055 or by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..