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Agenda item

The Gaslight Club, 4 Duke of York Street, London, SW1Y 6LA

App

No

Ward /

Cumulative Impact Area

Site Name and Address

App

Type

Licensing Ref No.

3.

West End Ward/West End Cumulative Impact Area

The Gaslight Club, 4 Duke of York Street, London, SW1Y 6LA.

Sexual Entertainment

Venue Licence

19/12275/

LISEVR

 

Minutes:

LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE No. 6

Thursday 16th January 2020

 

Membership:           Councillor Karen Scarborough (Chairman), Councillor Peter Freeman and Councillor Maggie Carman

 

Legal Adviser:         Barry Panto

Committee Officer:  Artemis Kassi

Policy Officer:          Aaron Hardy

Presenting Officer:  Kevin Jackaman

 

Objections:                            One anonymous objector

 

Present: Philip Kolvin QC (Counsel representing the Applicant, The Gaslight of St James’s Limited), Suzanne Davies (Solicitor representing the Applicant company), Gary Nichols (General Manager for the Applicant), Paul Philpot (Operations Manager for the Applicant) and Nicola Richards (The Secrets Group)

 

The Gaslight Club, 4 Duke of York Street, London, SW1Y 6LA

(“the Premises”)

19/12275/LISEVR

 

1.

Renewal of a Sexual Entertainment Venue Premises Licence

 

The application was to renew the sexual entertainment venue premises licence to provide relevant entertainment.

 

 

Amendments to application advised at hearing:

 

None.

 

 

Decision (including reasons if different from those set out in report):

 

The Sub-Committee considered an application by The Gaslight of St James’s Limited (“the Applicant”) to renew a sexual entertainment venue premises licence in respect of The Gaslight Club, 4 Duke of York Street, London SW1Y 6LA.

 

The anonymous objector did not attend the hearing, but the members noted the details of the objection which were set out in full in the report.

 

Mr Philip Kolvin QC addressed the Sub-Committee, advising the members that this was a renewal with no variations of a sexual entertainment venue premises licence for a long-standing sexual entertainment venue. Mr Kolvin stated that the venue entrance was a discreet doorway and that there was no evidence of negative impact on the locality. He observed that the venue had attracted almost no public objection. The one objection that had been made was a generic objection to the existence of any sexual entertainment venues. 

 

The Sub-Committee noted that the premises are situated in an area that is considered to be appropriate for SEVs and that no one, apart from the one anonymous objector, had raised any concerns about the suitability of the area. No problems had been identified with the operation of the premises which had been trading from its current venue for many years. 

The Sub-Committee also noted that there were no objections to the application from the police or the Environmental Health Service. 

 

The Sub-Committee has a duty to consider each application on its individual merits. After carefully weighing the evidence before it and the human rights considerations identified in the report, the Sub-Committee was of the view that there was no basis for refusing the application. It therefore decided to grant the the renewal application accordingly with the standard and special conditions that had previously been imposed on the licence.

 

 

 

Conditions attached to the Licence

Standard Conditions

 

1. Whilst Relevant Entertainment is taking place no person under the age of 18 shall be on the licensed premises and a clear notice to that effect shall be displayed at the entrance in a prominent position so that it can be easily read by persons entering the premises.

 

2. Whenever persons under the age of 18 are admitted to the premises there will be no promotional or other material on display within the premises which depicts nudity or partial nudity.

 

3. The licence or a clear copy shall be prominently displayed at all times so as to be readily and easily seen by all persons using the premises.

 

4. No provision of relevant entertainment, or material depicting nudity or relevant entertainment, shall be visible from outside the premises.

 

5. Menus and drinks price lists shall be clearly displayed at the front entrance of the club, reception area, tables and bar at such a position and size as to be easily read by customers. This price list shall show all consumable items and any minimum tariff including charges and fees applicable to Performers.

 

6. Except with the consent of the Licensing Authority, no advertisements of any kind (including placard, poster, sticker, flyer, picture, letter, sign or other mark) shall be inscribed or affixed at the premises, on the surface of the highway or on any building, structure, works, street furniture, tree or any other property or be distributed in the street to the public that advertises or promotes the relevant entertainment at the premises.

 

7. The licence holder or other person concerned in the conduct or management of the premises shall not seek to obtain custom by means of personal solicitation or touting, nor enter into any agreement with a third party to do so.

 

8. Adequate toilets, washing and changing facilities for use by the Performers shall be provided.

 

9. Either the licence holder or a named responsible person shall be present throughout the time the Relevant Entertainment takes place.

 

10. The premises will install and maintain a comprehensive CCTV system as per the minimum requirements of a Metropolitan Police Crime Prevention Officer that ensures all areas of the licensed premises are monitored including all entry and exit points will be covered enabling frontal identification of every person entering any light condition. All cameras shall continually record whilst the premises is

open for licensable activities and during all times when customers remain on the premises. All recordings shall be stored for a minimum period of 31 days with date and time stamping. Recordings shall be made available immediately upon the request of Police or authorised officer throughout the preceding 31 day period together with facilities for viewing.

 

11. A staff member from the premises who is conversant with the operation of the CCTV system shall be on the premises at all times when the premises is open to the public and this staff member should be able to show Police recent data and footage with the absolute minimum of delay of the request.

 

12. An incident log shall be kept at the premises, and made available on request to the Licensing Authority or the Police, which will record the following:

(a) all crimes reported to the venue;

(b) all ejections of patrons;

(c) any complaints received;

(d) any incidents of disorder;

(e) seizures of drugs or offensive weapons;

(f) any faults in the CCTV system or searching equipment or scanning equipment;

(g) any refusal of the sale of alcohol;

(h) any visit by a relevant authority or emergency service;

(i) any breach of licence conditions reported by a Performer.

 

13. The licence holder shall produce a Code of Conduct setting out rules and obligations between the licence holder and performers whilst performing. All Performers shall sign the Code of Conduct in their proper name acknowledging that they have read, understood and are prepared to abide by the said Code of Conduct, and a copy so signed shall be retained by the licence holder and shall be readily available for inspection by the Police and/or authorised persons upon reasonable request.

 

14. Individual records shall be kept at the premises of the real names, stage names and addresses of all Performers working at the premises. The record will include either a copy of their birth certificate, current passport, EU driving licence or national identity card and shall be made immediately available for inspection by the Police and/or the Licensing Authority upon request.

 

15. Details of all work permits and/or immigration status relating to persons working at the premises shall be retained by the licence holder and be readily available for inspection by the Licensing Authority, a Police Officer or Immigration Officer.

 

16. Relevant entertainment shall be given only by Performers and the audience shall not be permitted to participate in the relevant entertainment.

 

17. There shall be no physical contact between Performers whilst performing.

 

18. Performers will not request or give out any telephone number, address or any other contact information from or to any customer. Any such information given by a customer shall be surrendered to the premises manager as soon as is practicable.

 

19. Relevant Entertainment shall take place only in the designated areas approved by the Licensing Authority as shown on the licence plan. Arrangements for access to the dressing room shall be maintained at all times whilst Relevant Entertainment is taking place and immediately thereafter.

 

20. Customers must remain fully clothed at all times. The Performer must not remove any of the customer's clothing at any time.

 

21. Where relevant entertainment is provided in booths, or other areas of the premises where private performances are provided, the booth or area shall not have a door or other similar closure, the area shall be constantly monitored by CCTV, and access to the booth or other area shall be adequately supervised.

 

22. Whenever Relevant Entertainment is being provided there shall be no physical contact between Performers and customers or between customers and Performers except for the exchanging of money or tokens at the beginning or conclusion of the performance and only for the purpose of that performance. Clearly legible notices to this effect shall clearly be displayed in each private booth and in any performance area.

 

23. Performers must redress fully immediately after each performance.

 

Additional Conditions:

 

24. All public areas of the premises shall be sufficiently illuminated to afford the licensee a clear view of the hostesses.

 

25. The maximum number of persons accommodated at any one time in the basement (excluding staff) shall not exceed 110 persons. After 2.30am the number of persons on the premises (excluding performers and staff) will be reduced from 110 to 70 save for any private pre-booked functions in respect of which the booking shall have been made at least 24 hours beforehand and the records relating to such booking shall be retained for a minimum period of 30 days following the function.

 

26. All emergency doors shall be maintained effectively self closing and not held open other than by an approved device.

 

27. The edges of the treads of steps and stairways shall be maintained so as to be conspicuous.

 

28. Curtains and hangings shall be arranged so as not to obstruct emergency signs.

 

29. The approved arrangements at the premises, including means of escape provisions, emergency warning equipment, the electrical installation and mechanical equipment, shall at all material times be maintained in good condition and full working order.

 

30. The means of escape provided for the premises shall be maintained unobstructed, free of trip hazards, be immediately available and clearly identified in accordance with the plans provided.

 

31. All exit doors shall be available at all material times without the use of a key, code, card or similar means.

 

32. Any special effects or mechanical installations shall be arranged and stored so as to minimise any risk to the safety of those using the premises. The following special effects will only be used on ten (10) days’ prior notice being given to the Licensing Authority, where consent has not previously been given:

i. pyrotechnics including fireworks

ii. firearms

iii. lasers

iv. explosives and highly flammable substances.

v. real flame.

vi. strobe lighting.

 

33. No noise shall emanate from the premises nor vibration be transmitted through the structure of the premises which gives rise to a nuisance.

 

34. Customers will be encouraged to utilise the preferred taxi company of the licence holder and also to remain in the premises whilst awaiting arrival of their taxi.

 

35. No admission or re-admission to the premises shall be permitted, except for smokers, later than one hour before the terminal hour for the provision of Relevant Entertainment.

 

36. At times when a Temporary Event Notice is in force extending the permitted hours for licensable activities at these premises under the Licensing Act 2003, the hours for the provision of relevant entertainment (as defined in the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982) will be similarly extended without the need for a separate variation application in respect of this licence.

 

 

 

Supporting documents: