Ms Charlotte Basten, Environmental Health Officer informed members the application before them was to consider the renewal of a Special Treatment Licence for China Five Elements Limited, 35 Artillery Lane, London E1 7LP.

Ms Basten stated that the Licensing Authority was objecting to the renewal of the licence following a successful prosecution of the Licence Holder at Stratford Magistrates’ Court on the 27^th September 2018. Ms Basten referred members to paragraphs 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 of the report which gave further details of the circumstances for which a Special Treatment Licence is required. Ms Basten also referred Members to point 4.4 which listed the grounds for refusal, as per the London Local Authorities Act 1991.

Ms Natalie Thompson, Principal Environmental Health Officer provided Members with a detailed account of the investigation she had undertaken. She said the team had conducted an investigation of the premises and had employed a test purchasing company to conduct test purchases. The table at 8.2 of the report, showed the number of visits made in the last seven years. Ms Thompson stated a test purchase carried out on 13^th April 2018, showed services of a sexual nature were being offered by the premises. Ms Thompson referred members to page 24 of the agenda which gave details of the test purchase and appendix NAT.CFE.2 pages 89-91 which gave further detail on the test purchases.

Ms Thompson stated the Licence Holder was prosecuted at Stratford Magistrates’ Court on the 27^th September 2018, on which occasion the defendant (i.e. the Licence Holder – Mr Wei Lin) pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions of the licence. The court found China Five Elements Limited guilty of breaching the condition of the licence and fined the company a total of £1,836.50 made up of £500 fine, £1286.50 costs and £50.00 victim surcharge.

Ms Thompson said that following the prosecution, the Environmental Health team carried out a further inspection on the 12^th October 2018, on which occasion an officer overheard a male customer at the premises asking if the therapist was ‘Chinese or European’. The officer recalled online customer comments suggested staff of European origin were offering services of a sexual nature. Furthermore of the eight therapists listed on the application only two had provided evidence that they had the level of qualification required to carry out massage treatments in special treatment premises in Tower Hamlets. Ms Thompson drew the attention of Members to the internet searches appendix NAT.CFE.3 which provided further evidence that services of a sexual nature were being offered by the premises.

Ms Thompson stated the Licence Holder, Mr Wei Lin was listed as the Director of the business and the application for the renewal of the licence had been made by Mr Wei Lin.

Ms Thompson asked Members of the Licensing Committee to refuse the renewal of the Licence based on the evidence before them.

Mr Wei Lin, the Licence Holder was also present at the meeting. Mr Lin stated that his understanding of English was not particularly good but in defence he did not know the some of the certificates held by the therapists were not correct. He said that he had only received a new list of permitted qualifications from the Council a few weeks ago and was preparing to recruit therapists with the right qualifications.

Members of the Committee asked questions in relation to the application and in response the following was noted:

·         Mr Lin confirmed he was unaware that the previously submitted qualifications of the therapists he employed were not valid.

·         Mr Lin was asked if he wanted to say anything about the allegations that services of a sexual nature were being provided from his premises. In response Mr Lin said he tells his staff to follow the council rules but if the masseurs break the rules, he fires them.

·         Mr Lin was asked what other measures he had taken other than firing the masseuses so that services of a sexual nature are not offered. Mr Lin said there were notices in the treatment rooms but some of the masseuses did not have good English so cannot understand the notice.

Members adjourned the meeting at 18:58 hours for deliberations and reconvened at 19:20 hours.

Under paragraph 17.6 of the Council Procedure Rules, Councillors Eve McQuillan and Puru Miah asked that it be recorded that they abstained from the vote.

Accordingly, the Licensing Committee made a majority decision, with two members abstaining.

RESOLVED

That the application for the renewal of a Special Treatment Licence, under the London Local Authorities Act 1991 for China Five Elements Limited, 35 Artillery Lane, London E1 7LP be REFUSED

As the licence holder has been found to have improperly conducted its business on 13^th April 2018 and 12^th October 2018 as per the test purchase evidence, in breach of Regulation 7 (b) of the Regulations made by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets under section 10 (1) of the London Local Authorities Act 1991 and:

As per paragraph 4.4 of the report, the following grounds for refusal applied under section 8 of the London Local Authorities Act 1991:

(c)        the person concerned or intended to be concerned in the conduct or management of the premises used for special treatment could be reasonably regarded as not being fit and proper persons to hold such a licence;

(d)       the persons giving the special treatment are not suitably qualified; and

(l)         the applicant has, within a period of five years immediately preceding the application to the borough council, been convicted on an offence under this Part of the Act.