Agenda and minutes

Consideration was given to an application for the review of a premises licence made under Section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003, in respect of the premises known as the Bungalow Community Centre, Tenter Street, Rotherham.

On 27^th April, 2021, the Licensing Service (acting in its role as a Responsible Authority under the Licensing Act 2003) submitted an application to review the Premises Licence following the serving of a Fixed Penalty Notice in response to a failure of the licence holder to comply with nationally imposed requirements introduced to control the spread of Coronavirus/Covid-19 within the United Kingdom.  In addition, the applicant cited a number of concerns regarding poor compliance at the premises along with poor management that undermined the licensing objectives:-

·        Disorder and anti-social behaviour associated with the premises

·        A lack of effective management control in relation to the operation of the premises

·        A general failure of the licence holder to adhere to the conditions attached to the Premises Licence.

Following submission of the review paperwork, 2 additional responses were received in relation to the review:-

Environmental Health

·        An apparent failure to comply with legislation regarding the service of food and alcoholic/non-alcoholic drinks in hospitality venues

·        Lack of effective controls in place to ensure that customers and staff are adequately protected from Coronavirus/Covid-19

South Yorkshire Police

·        A number of reports recorded on Police systems that made reference to The Bungalow Community Centre

·        Interactions between the Designated Premises Supervisor and Police Officers/Police staff

The Sub-Committee heard representations from Mrs. K. Ladlow (Principal Officer of the Local Authority Licensing Enforcement Unit and the applicant for the premises licence review), Police Sergeant Neil Windle (substitute for Helen Cooper, South Yorkshire Police), Ms. R. Williams (Licensing Enforcement Officer) and from Ms. T. Munetsi (Premises Licence Holder and Designated Premises Supervisor).  In addition, Ms. Munetsi’s partner Francis Lunga, Mr. W. Mwale and Mr. G. Gumba were also present at this hearing as well as Mr. B. Smith, Yorkshire MESMAC who used the premises.

The premise was a medium sized bungalow consisting of several separate rooms on one level and a converted kitchen with a serving hatch to form a bar area.  The premise was licenced for the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises only and had been in place since October 2013.

The current Designated Premises Supervisor of the premises was the Premises Licence Holder Ms. T. Munetsi.

Members were informed of the details of the specific concerns in respect of the management of these premises:-

Licensing Service

(a) On 30^th October, 2020, the Licensing Service had been notified by Environmental Health that The Bungalow Community Centre had been issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice for breach of Regulation 6(1) of The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Local COVID-19 Alert Level) (High) (England) Regulations 2020.  Specifically that on 23^rd October, 2020, the premises were observed by an Environmental Health Officer to still be open at 22.17 hours.  The Regulations in force at that time required licences premises to close  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.