Durham - an enlightened approach to reviews

Paddy Whur approves of the approach taken to a licence review in Durham.

I have just been representing a client in Durham who had a review called against their Premises Licence by the Police due to two failed test purchases. 

After we had been given notice of the review we held a meeting with the Police in Durham who had expressed the view that they would be seeking a suspension of the Premises Licence as a sanction for the two failed test purchases. 

We had the opportunity of a full detailed and frank meeting with the Police who were represented by Senior Officers and the Licensing Officer. 

As a result of this meeting my client and I focussed upon the issues that have been raised as a result of the review and offered an increased level of Serve Legal independent test purchases at the premises, an improvement to the training systems in place and an increased number of Personal Licensees at the premises. 

The company also agreed to offer that all management at the premises would be placed on the Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing Course and refresher training offered for all members of staff. 

As a result of the failed test purchases one of the members of staff had been dismissed and there had been an increased awareness within the premises over the need to carry out age verification checks against those people who appear to be under the age of 25. 

Having considered the position the Police in Durham accepted that this would be an appropriate sanction and moved backwards from their initial suggestion of a suspension and there was agreement between both parties that the imposition of additional conditions would be an appropriate way of dealing with the review. 

During the initial meeting with the Police issues were highlighted in relation to Durham wide problems over alcohol consumption and within the student population. My clients also voluntarily offered to become involved in any local initiatives and awareness sessions both at the University and generally to deal with safe levels of alcohol consumption. 

This we hope has led to an even stronger relationship between our client and the local Police. 

The council then exhibited superb awareness and a user friendly approach to those parties dealing with licensing matters within the authority area. 

Rather than have the Police Solicitor and Licensing Team and ourselves attend for the review to ratify an agreed position in front of the elected members we were offered the opportunity to sign a mediation agreement highlighting what had been undertaken. 

Our attendance was then excused from the review hearing with the matter being given a long stop date to be brought back in front of the Licensing Committee if the authority had any issues with the mediation approach that had been undertaken. The mediation agreement would be produced to the councillors at the meeting in the absence of attendance by the Police and ourselves. 

The council accepted that this was an appropriate way of dealing with the matter and a huge amount of time and money was saved as a result of this enlightened approach.

Paddy Whur is a partner at Woods Whur. He can be contacted on 07738 170137 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..