Licensing Matters...

The esteemed Tory Leader, Councilllor Callow, has tried to call into question the decision of a Licensing Panel, which I Chaired.

It is the job of these panels to make 'necessary and proportionate' judgements when pubs and the like are alleged to have broken the Licensing rules.  The Committee I chaired decided that the pub in question (The Washington, on Topping Street) HAD broken the rules - they'd sold alcohol to people under 18.

I, and the rest of the Committee take this very seriously (none of us likes to think of our kids getting drunk do we?) BUT (and this is the bit Cllr Callow seems to be struggling with) we felt it was better to place a series of strict conditions on the licencee (like having door staff, cctv, and asking for ID off anyone who looks under 30), than to take his livelihood away, and strip him of his licence.  These are peoples lives we're dealing with, and I wasn't prepared to see someones business ruined because Cllr Callow just wants to look tough - when there were other, better, ways of protecting children from harm - and I'm pleased that Cllr Callows' Tory colleague who served on the Committee with me agreed - our decision was unanimous.

Watch this space for updates though, because Cllr Callow is trying to call for "uniformity" in Licensing decisions (whereas the law clearly states that each case should be judged on it's merits).  There are questions being asked about whether it is proper for someone in his position to seek to influence what are supposed to be independent panels....let's see what happens!