There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest. 

To note the rules of procedure relating to determinations of licenses for sexual entertainment venues.

The rules of procedure were noted.

At the outset of the hearing, Mr David Dadds, Legal Representative on behalf of the Applicant made a request for the hearing to be adjourned because he said he was prejudiced in his preparation for the hearing. In particular Mr Dadds said he was unable to obtain the evidence necessary to rebut what the Test Purchasers said in their witness statements, and which formed the basis of the Licensing Authority’s objection to the renewal of the SEV Licence. Mr Dadds also said that he had not had sufficient time to watch all of Whites’ CCTV provided to the Licensing Authority, and upon which the Licensing Authority relied as evidence of further breach of the Licence conditions.

The Chair asked when the Applicant was informed of the allegations to which Mr Dadds confirmed a letter dated 6^th June was received between 16-17 June 2019. Mr Dadds stated that several discussions had taken place between himself and officers from the Licensing Authority and information had also been provided.

At this point the Chair invited Mr Matt Lewin, Legal Representative on behalf of the Licensing Authority to make a submission in respect to the request for adjournment. Mr Lewin opposed the request for adjournment, he said it was clear what had happened, the Applicant had been aware of this since June 2019. In terms of the late notice, the CCTV footage that has been relied upon was provided by the Applicant themselves, and these should have been viewed by them in advance.

The Committee listened to submissions for and against an adjournment made

on behalf of Mr Dadds, and Mr Lewin. The Committee adjourned the meeting

at 7.00pm to consider their decision and reconvened at 7.15pm.

The Committee rejected Mr Dadds’ application to adjourn the hearing for the

following reasons.

(i)           The Council had given Whites sufficient notice of the hearing.

(ii)          Mr Dadds had been instructed in relation to the matter since at least July 2nd 2019.

(iii)         Mr Dadds had not specified the nature of the evidence that his client needed to obtain in order to rebut the evidence of the Test Purchasers.

(iv)         The Committee agreed that it would only rely on the CCTV evidence shown to the Committee during the course of the hearing.

At the request of the Chair, Ms Kathy Driver, briefly introduced the report for the application for the renewal of a Sexual Entertainment Venue Licence for Whites Gentleman’s Club, 32-38 Leman Street, London E1 8EW. Members and all interested parties noted the report as read.

The Chair stated that both parties would be given 45 minutes each to make their submissions.

At the request of the Chair, Mr Dadds, began by explaining that an application for a renewal was made by the Applicant which had been objected to by the Licensing Authority.  He explained that the Licensing Authority did a mystery shop/observation on 23 May 2019, following this, correspondence was sent to the Applicant in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.1