To appoint a Chairman for the duration of the meeting.

Councillor Bhangra nominated Councillor Cannon to be Chairman of the Sub-Committee. This was seconded by Councillor Brar.

AGREED: That Councillor Cannon be Chairman for the duration of the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

No apologies for absence were received.

To receive any declarations of interest.

Councillor Brar declared that she was a licensee.

To note the procedural details for the meeting.

The Sub-Committee noted the procedures.

To consider an application to vary a premises license s34 of the Licensing Act 2003.

Greg Nelson, Reporting Officer outlined the report to the Sub-Committee. The application was for a variation to a premises licence under s34 of the Licensing Act 2003. The premises in question was Labyrinth, Unit 15A Windsor Royal Station, Windsor SL4 1PJ.

The proposed variation that was being applied for was to remove the 9^th and 10^th conditions of Annex 3 of the current premises licence which read:

“An ID scanning system will be employed at the premises and will be utilised for all customers. This will be in operation during licensable activities and shall be a condition of entry”, and

“The scanning of all ID’s, with no discretion allowed”.

This variation being applied for was for this to be replaced by the following:

“An ID system will be employed at the premises and in operation during licensable activities. The ID system will be utilised for all customers and a condition of entry EXCEPT that a customer may be admitted to the premises without ID in the following

circumstances:

1. The customer without ID must be accompanied by a customer with ID whose details would of course be recorded.

2. A clear head and shoulders CCTV picture is taken of the customer without ID and retained.

3. The customer without ID must provide a bank card or other document which confirms their name so that the name is retained and a copy of the document.

4. The date and time of entry, customers name and documentation, head and shoulders picture and ID of their companion would be retained, and the entry signed off by a senior manager.”

Greg Nelson then provided some background information on the premises and its licence history. A minor variation to the licence was submitted on 16 May 2022 and was subsequently refused by RBWM Licensing. The applicant, Epic Bars and Clubs Berkshire Limited, therefore decided to apply for a full variation, which was the subject of the hearing.

Greg Nelson said that 2 representations had been received from responsible authorities. These were from RBWM Licensing and RBWM Trading Standards. Greg Nelson did point out that the applicant had responded to RBWM trading Standards to their satisfaction, and therefore the Trading Standards representation was not a matter for the Sub-Committee to consider. No representations were received from other persons, therefore RBWM Licensing’s representation, was the only one for the Sub-Committee to consider.

Greg Nelson reminded the Sub-Committee of the 4 licensing objectives, which were as follows:

·       Prevention of crime and disorder

·       Public safety

·       Prevention of public nuisance

·       Protection of children from harm

The Chairman asked if the licence that had been granted was a new licence. Greg Nelson confirmed that the license was granted in August 2021 and that the premises opened in April 2022.

Andrew Woods, the applicant’s representative, began his submission by stating that in no way was the variation to the licence in any way dismissive of the licensing objectives, and instead it seeked to help promote them. He outlined to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.