Letter from the Head of Liquor Licensing,
Home Office
- Sunday dancing could have the additional benefit
of keeping younger people off the streets that you describe. However,
this was not a major consideration. Young people already have
a range of places to go for entertainment on Sundays, including
sporting events, leisure centres, cinemas, pubs and bars. The
draft Order would simply increase the choice already available.
We did not therefore seek views on this point from any organisations
specifically representing young people. We did consult some church
bodies who I am sure would claim to represent their whole congregation
including younger age groups. We also understand that the British
Entertainment and Discotheque Association (BEDA) includes among
its membership more than 70 student unions which would have contributed
to BEDA's response.
The point about revoking Sunday special hours
certificates has also been raised by the House of Lords' committee.
- Guidance on what is meant by "the special
nature of Sundays" is given at paragraph 39 of the Explanatory
Document. We would include this guidance in a circular to the
courts, police and local authorities should the draft Order become
law. In practice, it is inevitable that local circumstances would
play a very large part in any consideration. Licensing justices
would have discretion to decide what factors to take into account
when having regard to "the special nature of Sunday".
However, our guidance would provide them with a starting point.
- Workers in the leisure industry are covered by
the Working Time Regulations, which came into force on 1 October
1998 implementing the European Working Time Directive. The Regulations
created:
| — | a right for workers not to work over an average of 48 hours a week;
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| — | entitlements to paid annual leave (4 weeks);
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| — | daily rest of 11 hours;
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| — | one day of weekly rest;
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| — | in-work rest of 20 minutes after the first 6 hours worked; and
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| — | special conditions for night workers.
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The working Time Regulations do not specifically address Sunday
working, or in particular, the application of the weekly rest
entitlement. The significance of Sunday for Christians in this
country is well appreciated. However, we also recognise that we
live in a multi-cultural society and there are a great many people
who may prefer or need to take their weekly rest period on a day
other than Sunday.
- Our consultation paper asked licensing authorities to quantify
any costs arising from the proposal, but none were provided. As
the Explanatory Document points out, there might not be many applications
to vary entertainment licences with which local authorities will
need to deal. Licence fees should be set on a cost recovery basis.
Therefore, where any applications were to prove necessary, local
authority costs should be recovered through the licence fees.
The local authorities themselves set these fees, and there is
no reason to suppose that they would be set lower than full cost
recovery.
- It is not the expressed policy of the Government to repeal
the Sunday Observance Act 1780. But we agree that if the Deregulation
Order is approved by Parliament and made, it should be considered.
We are not aware of any forms of entertainment or amusement other
than dancing which are prohibited by the 1780 Act (our 1995 consultation
paper specifically sought information on this and none were identified).
However, we would need to investigate the matter comprehensively
before advising Ministers whether to pursue the Act's repeal.
7 February 2000
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