The Licensing Sub-Committee of Leeds Council scheduled a meeting to discuss a review of the premises licence for the Hope Inn, and to consider an application for film certification. The meeting was also scheduled to deal with preliminary procedures such as the election of a chair.

Hope Inn, York Road, Leeds, LS9 8ES

The report pack included a report from the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory regarding a review of the premises licence for the Hope Inn, York Road, Leeds, LS9 8ES. West Yorkshire Police had applied for a review of the premises licence under section 51 of the Licensing Act 2003. The application was made on the grounds of the prevention of crime and disorder, and public safety.

According to the report in the public reports pack, the review was requested following concerns about a serious assault that allegedly took place at the premises on 31 May 2025. It was alleged that a female victim required hospital treatment as a result of her injuries, and that staff at the venue, including those in charge, failed to report the incident and discouraged others from doing so. A joint inspection by West Yorkshire Police and Entertainment Licensing allegedly found that required CCTV footage from the date of the incident was missing and that the venue's incident log was not properly maintained, which are breaches of the premises licensing conditions. The police believed that the venue's failure to properly record and report the incident had potentially prevented justice from taking place.

The report pack noted that the licensing authority was under a duty to review the premises licence. The premises licence holder is Trust Inns Limited, and the designated premises supervisor (DPS) is Rebecca Sidsaph.

The report pack stated that representations in support of the review application had been received from a Senior Liaison and Enforcement Officer, on behalf of Entertainment Licensing. The report pack also noted that the application had attracted 23 individual representations from members of the public in support of the premises, including a representation from the director of the company the licensing authority understands is the premises subtenant.

West Yorkshire Police made recommendations for the Licensing Sub Committee to consider, including the removal of Rebecca Sidsaph as DPS, and the amendment/addition of conditions to be attached to the licence. These included:

• Amending the licensing conditions relating to CCTV to stipulate that a suitable closed-circuit television (CCTV) system shall be in operation whilst members of the public are in attendance, and that at least one member of staff shall be on duty at the premises who can operate the system and download recorded images.
• Amending the licensing conditions to include that a register shall be maintained on the premises to record all incidents and accidents.
• Adding a condition that incident and accident records shall be kept in a bound register with consecutively numbered pages.
• Amending the condition relating to age verification to specify a 'Check 25' scheme shall be used to prevent the sale of alcohol to people under 18 years of age.
• Adding a condition that all staff deployed in the serving of alcohol and for managing admission to age restricted premises shall be trained on the correct procedures for age verification, the prevention of proxy sales, the prevention of sales to those who appear intoxicated and for dealing with false and any surrendered identification documents.
• Adding a condition that there shall be a register for the recording of all alcohol sale refusals, including attempted under-age sales, proxy sales and refusals to those who appear intoxicated.

The report pack included extracts from the s182 Guidance¹ relating to reviews arising in connection with crime, and advised that where reviews arise and the licensing authority determines that the crime prevention objective is being undermined through the premises being used to further crimes, it is expected that revocation of the licence should be seriously considered, even in the first instance.

Film Certification – The Organizer

The report pack included a report from the Chief Officer, Elections and Regulatory, advising members of an application for the certification of The Organizer by Acorn Union. The film was scheduled to be shown as part of Scalarama on Wednesday 10 September 2025 at the Cardigan Arms, Kirkstall Road, Leeds LS4 2HQ.

The report pack stated that under Section 20 of the Licensing Act 2003, the licensing authority has a duty to categorise a film which does not have a certificate from a film classification body such as the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The licensing authority may also reject or modify a film which has received certification from the BBFC.

The report pack included a list detailing the films requesting certification, including a synopsis and the applicant's recommended rating. The Organizer is a documentary about Wade Rathke, the founder of ACORN², and an exploration of community organising.

The report pack noted that there was no requirement for the committee to view the film, as the request was to award an 18 rating subject to a written declaration confirming that the films do not contain any content which would more likely than not, render them liable to be classified as R18 if considered in accordance with the BBFC Classification Guidelines. A representative of Hyde Park Picture House was scheduled to be available via phone.