ANNEX B
Letter from the Consumers' Association
Proposed Change to the Liquor Licensing
Legislation to Allow Off-licensees to Obtain Occasional Licences
Consumers' Association (CA), publisher of Which?
and other consumer magazines and books, is an independent consumer
organisation funded mainly by subscriptions from its 750,000 members.
We welcome the opportunity to comment on the
Home Office's consultation paper and support the proposal to allow
off-licensees to obtain occasional licences as a small step towards
greater freedom of choice for consumers. However, we are disappointed
that once again, the consultation only examines one part of licensing
law. We recently responded to the consultation on extending licensing
hours in pubs and clubs and have noted that both consultations
are presented as merely "modest" changes. As we have
previously stated this rather piecemeal approach is not particularly
helpful and a complete review of the licensing system is long
overdue. We have also previously questioned whether a positive
licensing system is actually necessary and have set out how consumer
protection interests could be adequately met by a "negative
licensing" system and planning law and enforcement (Consumers'
Association response to the 1993 Home Office consultation on possible
reforms to the liquor licensing system in England and Wales).
This strikes us as a prime example of legislation that could be
considered under the Government's deregulation initiative. Our
comments on specific questions raised in the consultation paper
should be read within this context.
Occasional Licences for Off-Licensees
This consultation addresses only one of the
inconsistencies in this area of licensing law; namely that on-licensees
may apply for occasional licences to sell alcohol at a specific
event held away from the licensee's premises but off-licensees
cannot. We welcome the proposed change set out in paragraphs 1
to 3 to allow off-licensees to apply for occasional licences for
events such as agricultural shows, festivals and summer fairs,
as it will increase the choice available to consumers and remove
the inconsistency.
In paragraph 8 the document states that normal
off licence conditions would apply to these occasional licences;
i.e. only off-sales would be permitted and licensees could not
run a bar or sell alcohol by the glass. The rationale for this
is set out in paragraph 7 as being that off-licence holders are
not familiar with the legislation for such sales and do not have
the knowledge and experience to run a bar safely. CA is unable
to comment on this assertion but would want to see it examined
more closely in a wider review of licensing law as advocated above.
There is an assumption that only UK wine producers
would be interested in applying for these licences. It is made
clear that other off-licence holders would be eligible to apply
for the licences but "it is not expected that many would
wish to make use of the facility" (para. 5 of the Foreword).
No explanation is given for this assumption and therefore the
Consumers' Association would question whether it is a reasonable
one. We are concerned that if such an assumption remains it could
lead to discrimination between wine producers and other off-licence
holders at the application stage.
Application procedure
The document suggests that off-licensees would
apply for an occasional licence in the same way as on-licensees.
This would mean that they apply to licensing justices who have
absolute discretion about whether or not to grant the licence.
There are no guidelines for magistrates and the consultation document
simply states that "justices would wish to satisfy themselves
that the sale of alcohol was appropriate at the event in question"
(para. 14).
The Magistrates' Association is in the process
of preparing guidelines for licensing applications, but even when
these are ready it will still be up to local discretion as to
whether to apply them. This is unsatisfactory; magistrates should
have clear guidelines and in the interests of transparency, when
an application is turned down the licensee should be given written
reasons for the refusal.
I hope our comments are helpful. Please do not
hesitate to contact my office if you would like to discuss any
of the points made in more detail. The information in our response
is not confidential, and we may release our comments to the press.
Philip Cullum
Policy Manager
Consumers' Association
16th October 1996
Letter from Nottingham & Nottinghamshire
Licensed Victuallers Limited
Proposed Change to the Liquor Licensing
Legislation to Allow Off-Licensees to Obtain Occasional Licences August 1996
The Members of the above having carried out
an in-depth study of these proposals would like to submit as full
on-off licence holders, the following observations.
It is felt that this will open the door for
any-one to purchase Alcoholic Drink from any off-Licence holder
at any function—walk round the corner—Open the same
and consume it free from control.
REFERENCE PARAGRAPH 17
Will mean the lack of Control on all Alcoholic
Drinks once purchased from an Off-Licence be it occasional or
otherwise. We feel this will add further strain to what is already
known as quoted by the Authorities etc—that—more problems
arise from Off-Sales purchases being consumed immediately after
purchase.
R Evans
Secretary
Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Licensed Victuallers
Limited
23rd September 1996
Letter from the Police Federation of England
and Wales Joint Central Committee
Proposed Change to the Liquor Licensing
Legislation to Allow Off Licensees to obtain Occasional Licences
The Police Federation have examined this Home
Office consultation document and do not support the proposed changes to allow Off Licensees
to obtain occasional licences.
K.H.F. Crossman
Secretary, Legislation Sub-Committee
Police Federation of England and Wales
19th December 1996
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