Here is a recent story from the Chesterfield area about the Police making an application to review the licence operating at a nightclub called Groove. The story is useful for two reasons:
- It’s an example of the Police deciding to take action themselves because people were reporting problems to them: “We took the decision to review the conditions of the licence at Groove bar due to a number of reports and concerns expressed about crime and disorder at and around the premises”. Moral of the story: each person who is affected by trouble from licensed premises should assiduously report every incident of crime and disorder and nuisance to the Police – there may come a point when the Police feel compelled to act on their own initiative and that may make things much easier for the residents concerned.
- In connection with their application, the Police use the phrase “In our opinion two licensing objectives have been compromised, these being the prevention of serious crime and disorder and public safety.” In my view this is an excellent and appropriate use of language which you may wish to deploy in your licence review application. The wording conveys two important thoughts: (a) adhering to the licensing objectives is very much the licence-holder’s responsibility, which is something it can be easy to lose sight of; (b) there is evidence that the licence-holder is failing in that responsibility.
