Annex 2
LICENSING POLICIES
AND THE
LICENSING ACT
INTRODUCTION
The Licensing Act 2003 made provision for the
sale and supply of alcohol and about offences relating to this
subject. One of the key changes from the previous licensing regime
was the transfer of the responsibility of licensing from licensing
justices to the Local Authority. Local Authorities are required
by the Act to draw up a Licensing Policy, the purpose of which
is to outline the law and local requirements for those applying
for a licence.
The Act stipulates that licensing policies must
be reviewed every three years. The first policies were put out
for consultation in 2004 and issued in January 2005. The revised
policies had to be in place by January 2008 to comply with the
Act.
The BBPA commented on the 2004-05 policies and
gave feedback to almost every Local Authority. The same process
had to be carried out less than three years later for the 2007
consultations. The BBPA responded to around 300 Local Authorities
for the second time.
The aim of the BBPA's response to these consultations
is primarily to identify and remedy any potential licensing issues
that will affect BBPA members by raising them with the Licensing
Authority at a stage when, in theory, they can be amended.
SAMPLE
The BBPA responded to 293 Local Authority licensing
policy consultations. The policies were then divided into three
categories (red, amber and green) based on the length of the BBPA
response to the consultation. For example, a policy that required
a detailed response of nine pages was classed as a red policy,
whilst one that required a two page response was classed as green.
|
Length of Response
(page) |
Number of
Policies
|
|
| 5-10 | 23
|
| 3-4 | 140 |
| 1-2 | 130 |
| 293 |
|
The majority of policies were classed as amber (48%). Green
policies made up 44% and red 8%. From these three policy classes,
a further sample of 23 policies was taken at random. From the
red policies, a list was compiled of the fourteen most prevalent
issues (listed below).
|
| Sets minimum pricing | Enforces glass or polycarbonates
|
| Overly prescriptive policy | DPS must be on site at all times
|
| Short Consultation Period | Problems with operating schedule
|
| Duplicates existing legislation | Compulsory late-night doorstaff
|
| Restricts opening hours | Membership of a Pubwatch as a condition
|
| Mandatory use of PASS and Challenge 21 |
CCTV as a condition |
| Ignored BBPA's 2004 Recommendations | Reminder that Hampton Principles must be followed
|
|
| 
