(a)

considered the report from the Director for Place;

(b)

considered written representations and heard from a representative of Devon & Cornwall Police that the crime prevention objective was not being upheld as detailed below–

·          

between 1 April 2012 and 30 June 2013 there have been a total of 73 offences linked to Cuba of these 24 relate to violent offences, accounting for 35% of overall crime linked to the location (and during this period on at least three occasions glasses or bottles were used as weapons);

·          

ABH accounted for 12 offences (45% of all violence);

·          

Malicious Wounding x 5 offences (22% of all violence);

·          

s.20 GBH x 3 offences (14% of all violence);

·          

Drunk and Disorderly x 2 offences (9% of all violence);

·          

1 x Affray and 1x Common Assault;

·          

in all but one of the violent offences recorded for the location the offender was a stranger to the complainant;

·          

in 16 of the violent offences the offender was perceived as “in drink” by the complainant;

·          

in 6 of the violent offences the complainant has indicated that they were “in drink”;

·          

5 complainants specified that they were not in drink (all were staff/door staff at the premises);

·          

the majority of offenders linked to violent offences at the location are males (19 offences);

·          

the others were offences involving female offenders assaulting female complainants;

·          

there were 3 violent offences involving the use of glass/bottle recorded throughout the specified period;

·          

there have been a further 40 offences at the location that are not violence related, a majority of which relate to theft offences;

·          

theft offences account for 51% of all overall crime at the location (35 offences);

·          

following the research into the statistics a further offence involving a bottle was reported.  At about 1.40am on Friday 26 July 2013 the DPS of Cuba was on duty when a scuffle occurred in the downstairs bar, as he tried to deal with this he was struck on the back of the head by a male holding a bottle by the neck.  This caused a cut to the back of his head.  The incident was captured on CCTV;

·          

with this latest event this means that there have been at least four occasions where glasses or bottles were used as weapons;

·          

the Committee was told that it is now a police policy that where a premise has more than 2 incidents of violence involving the use of glasses or bottles as weapons that a premises should be required to introduce the use of plastic drinking vessels and bottles;

·          

the premise licence holder has agreed conditions with the police which the police consider are appropriate to address the concerns they have on this matter;

(c)

considered written representations and heard from the premises licence holder –

·          

that the premises licence holder has owned and managed Cuba for 14 years and over this time has worked hard to make the bar successful, employing many people and entertaining, feeding and refreshing many years of students and local people;

·          

they are a member of both Pubwatch and Clubwatch schemes and are accredited members of Plymouth Best Bar None;

·          

since the review application was made by the Police have worked in partnership to produce a set of conditions that address the concerns that they have raised;

·          

Cuba experiences over 300,000 customer visits per annum and the number of incidents that have occurred over 14 years is small in relation to the number of visits but that any incident is unacceptable and anything that can reduce these incidents is something was would be reviewed and supported;

·          

as a market leader they are happy to innovate therefore we are in agreement about the need for the use of polycarbonate glassware and bottles within the venue.  Have been successfully serving all spirits and shots in polycarbonate glassware since 2008 and we now feel that a move to a completely polycarbonate glassware would be appropriate in the current trading environment.  In addition to the agreed conditions the following should also be attached to the premises licence:

§   

all bottle beers, ciders & RTD products, draught beers and ciders, spirits, cocktails and soft drinks shall be served in non-glass containers after 00.00hrs until the close of business.  Wine and champagne will be served in toughened glass;

§   

the use of polycarbonate and plastic bottles is not appropriate before 0.00hrs.  Cuba is a multi-use venue and caters to a variety of different customers.  Restaurant food is served until late.  In the evenings the venue caters for people finishing work, customers who have seen a show, been to a gig or watched a movie and the cocktail crowd.  It is not until 1am that the venue becomes a late night venue with dance floor and DJ’s catering to students and like-minded people and these customers need to be able to be treated differently;

§   

the venue’s own records show that for the 15 month period between 1 April 2012 and 29 July 2013 there was a single recorded assault attributed to Cuba before midnight.  This assault was recorded as an ABH and occurred outside the premise when a member of bar staff refused a customer service as he was drunk.  The only assaults where a glass or bottle have been used as a weapon have occurred after 1.30am;

§   

no evidence has been presented by the Police that says that it is appropriate for the promotion of the four licensing objectives to prevent the use of glass before 00:00hours (midnight);

(d)

having taken into account all the relevant representations made, the members agreed:

(1)

that it was appropriate and proportionate to add conditions to the licence as agreed by both parties and to add the extra conditions proposed by Mr Dunkley related to the use of polycarbonate glassware.

Conditions to be applied to the licence:

·          

all staff will be fully trained to perform their role. They will also be trained in the contents of the premises licence including times of operation, licensable activities and all conditions;

·          

the training will be recorded in documentary form that will be available for inspection on at the time of a request by a member of any relevant authority. The records will be retained for at least 12months;

·          

incident reports shall be completed to record any activity of a violent, criminal or anti-social nature. The record will contain the time and date, the nature of the incident, the people involved, the action taken and details of the person responsible for the management of the premises at the time of the incident;

·          

the incident reports will be available for inspection at the time of request by a member of any relevant authority. The records will be retained for at least 12 months;

·          

the Premises shall employ door staff from 0000hrs to close of business every day;

·          

the door staff will control the entrance to the premises and ensure the capacity is never exceeded. That is 230 for the venue;

·          

the Premises Licence holder and/or DPS will ensure door staff are properly briefed and trained to manage queues in a safe and efficient manner;

·          

the Premises Licence Holder and the DPS will maintain a register of door staff employed at the premises. The register will detail the day, time and date the door staff commenced duty, full name legibly written, SIA licence number, the name of the employer, the time duty ends and the name of the person in charge of the premises on that date.  The register will be kept at the premises and be available for inspection at the time of request by a member of any relevant authority. The records will be retained for at least 12months;

·          

the Premises Licence Holder will ensure that a CCTV system which is fully compliant with the guidance contained in the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance document (www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk) regarding installation of CCTV is provided at the premises;

·          

the CCTV will cover all areas of the premises to which the public have access including any outside areas;

·          

images will be retained for a minimum of 21 days;

·          

the system will be capable of downloading images to a recognizable viewable format;

·          

at all times the premises are open for business a member of staff will be available who is capable of operating the system and downloading images at the request of police or a member of a responsible authority;

·          

the CCTV system will be capable of obtaining clear facial recognition images and a clear head and shoulders image of every person entering or leaving the premises;

·          

the Premises Licence Holder or Designated Premises Supervisor shall ensure that all bar staff, supervisors and managers are trained in the legality and procedure of alcohol sales prior to undertaking the sale of alcohol and then at least every six months;

·          

training shall be signed and documented and training records will be kept on the premises and be made available to an enforcement officer on request;

·          

the documentation relating to training should extend back to a period of one year and should specify the time, date and details of the persons both providing the training and receiving the training;

·          

all bottled beers, ciders & RTD products, draught beer & ciders, spirits, cocktails and soft drinks shall be served in non-glass containers after 00.00hrs until the close of business. Wine and champagne will be served in toughened glass;

·          

change “staff banned from drinking on duty” to “staff prohibited from consuming alcoholic drinks whilst on duty”;

·          

remove “Records maintained of any material incidents within or in immediate vicinity of premises” as it has been superseded by new conditions;

·          

remove “Licensed door staff to appropriate levels as necessary” as it has been superseded by new conditions;

·          

remove “CCTV system installed both internally and externally” as it has been superseded by new conditions;