Rebalancing the Licensing Act

The coalition has issued a consultation paper with a view to “rebalancing” the Licensing Act.

In my opinion, only three major matters need addressing – first, the smoking ban (which will never be changed) and, secondly, supermarkets selling alcohol at ridiculously low prices (which is outside the remit of the consultation and will be dealt with elsewhere). Third, the problem of underage sales is a major concern to licensees, the police and politicians alike. Something needs to be done but I’m not convinced that placing the burden almost entirely on the licence holder is the way forward.

The rest of the consultation paper would be better named “retinkering” the Licensing Act!

However, there are some good ideas, particularly making the local authority a responsible authority. Most (if not all) of the officers that I deal with at the licensing authority know what they are talking about and apply that knowledge tempered with true local knowledge. They know what is good for the whole area and for specific localities and it’s only proper they have some say in what conditions are necessary on any licence.

Contrary to this is involvement of local health bodies. It is proposed to make them a responsible authority and give them more involvement. Their views are important with regard to the whole area but will be very limited with regard to the majority of individual applications.

The paper acknowledges that “there are numerous instances of local businesses working with the police and others to reduce alcohol related harm whilst promoting their own interests” but offers no credit for this and suggests that fees globally be set “to reflect the costs of policing the late night economy” meaning good operators will pay as much as bad ones.

In theory, the proposal to “ensure that licensing authorities are given the freedom to respond to the needs of their local community in determining when premises can sell alcohol” is a good one but I fear election promises may be made more on political grounds than licensing ones – we are all human! There is also the fear that decisions will be made on a subjective basis as opposed to an objective one causing major inconstancies in differing locations.