The Licensing Act 2003 - Culture, Media and Sport Committee Contents


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 pricingEnforces glass or polycarbonates
Overly prescriptive policyDPS must be on site at all times
Short Consultation PeriodProblems with operating schedule
Duplicates existing legislationCompulsory late-night doorstaff
Restricts opening hoursMembership of a Pubwatch as a condition
Mandatory use of PASS and Challenge 21 CCTV as a condition
Ignored BBPA's 2004 RecommendationsReminder that Hampton Principles must be followed










 
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