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A West London council has taken an unusual step of banning the press and the public from attending a licensing hearing in what appears to be a case about a simple trading standards violation. Hillingdon Council held a licensing review pertaining to Greenland, a convenience store on Joel Street in Northwood Hills, on January 16, 2026, however, it was in private.
Due to this being unprecedented, the Local Democracy Reporting Service [LDRS] contacted the council’s Democratic Services team, seeking to attend. According to the team, “due to matters under consideration in [this] meeting”, press were banned.
The council cited aspects of the Local Government Act 1972, specifically that the meeting contains information relating to an individual, their identity, or any action taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.
However, this is rarely used to hold a licensing meeting in private, apart from at Hillingdon Council. In January 2025, the council held a licensing review meeting, also in private, using the same legal reasons for doing so as this occasion.
This was challenged by the LDRS, however no reporter or member of the public was allowed to attend. A few weeks later, the council disclosed full unredacted documents to the LDRS.
The documents revealed that Khaneja Food & Booze on Uxbridge High Street had it’s license suspended due to the sale of an e-cigarette to a child, the sale of illicit tobacco, and lack of a licence, CCTV, and staff training logs. This is a standard licensing hearing.
The fact that the council shared unredacted information once the meeting had been held calls into question the decision to ban the press and public in the first place. It never became clear why it was held behind closed doors.
All licensing meetings contain information pertaining to people’s identity, such as staff or the shop owner, and the LDRS frequently attends and covers meetings relating to the investigation of a crime or alleged crime. In December 2024, the LDRS extensively covered the public licensing hearing at Westminster City Council after an alleged rape at the nightclub.
In West London, the LDRS attended and reported on a licensing hearing held by Ealing Council, related to an alleged stabbing at a Park Royal shisha lounge - all whilst being investigated by the Metropolitan Police. All LDRS reporters are trained in media law such as contempt of court, and defamation law.
This comes at a time when Hillingdon Council is facing questions about it’s decision to decide in private to write off a former Tory-councillors debt. Former Councillor Alan Deville had been in arrears on a council lease, and the Cabinet decided this in private, citing legal reasons, such as commercial and data protection.
It does seem to be at odds with the concept of an open and public democratic system. The press and the public are free to walk into almost any courtroom in the country, and report on it if they wish to do so - but not a standard licensing meeting in Hillingdon.
This was all put to the Democratic Services team and the press team at the council - to no avail. While the council did publish minutes of the meeting, they amounted to little more than a procedural record, offering a thin account of proceedings.
What it did display was that the licensing review related to a simple trading standards violation. The conditions applied to Greenland were a two month license suspension, new CCTV requirements, a ban on purchasing from “unannounced sellers” and requires the store to keep invoices for alcohol purchases - pretty run of the mill stuff when it comes to licensing.
The published minutes explicitly state that the decision to ban the press and the public from attending was based on a public interest test - where retaining information is more important than disclosing it.
The LDRS asked Hillingdon Council to explain how - given that the conditions enforced are matters of public safety and consumer protection - the public interest was served by obscuring the decision making process - no response was received by the time of publication.
The Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005 specifically outlines that hearings should be conducted in public, unless there is a public interest to hold it in private. It remains unclear how the public interest was served in this instance.
Hillingdon Council were contacted for comment, but did not respond by the time of publication.
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