Licensing Update

Major reforms of the Licensing Act-the so-called “redressing the balance”

I blogged back on July 29 on the proposed changes which everyone who has or who will be applying fro a Premises Licence in the future should take careful note of.

The passage of the Bill through the House of Commons and House of Lords saw no changes to the proposals as I outlined them, and the Bill became an Act of Parliament on 15 September 2011.

However, we do not know when the Act will come into force. That depends upon the Home Office, and I suspect it will not be before licensing authorities have had sufficient time to get to grips with their new powers, and a new Statutory Guidance has been prepared and approved by Parliament. My guess is that it will be sometime in the second or third quarter of 2012.

To recap on the headline changes, they are:

• more power to licensing authorities and those who may wish to object to applications or take a Premises Licence to a formal Review.
• a significant increase in the maximum fine for sale of alcohol to under age persons.
• a far reaching power for licensing authorities to introduce Early Morning Alcohol Restriction Orders.
• the introduction of the Late Night Levy which will impact those premises selling alcohol after 12 midnight.
• power is to be given to licensing authorities to set their own fees, subject to some restrictions.
• Temporary Event Notices have a new procedure for those (late notices) served no earlier than 9 working days and no later than 5 working days before an event, the current cut off being 10 working days for all Notices. The down side is that not only the police but environmental health may also object, and that for the first time conditions may be imposed on Notices.

For more details see my blog of 29 July.

Live Music-will the floodgates be opened?

Back on 8 August I blogged on the Bill going through Parliament which proposed some important changes for live music in small venues. The Bill has been languishing in the House of Lords since mid-July, with no signs yet of moving forward.

However, on 10 September the Department for Culture Media and Sport, who have the responsibility for the regulated entertainment parts of the Licensing Act, issued a consultation paper with proposals which go far beyond anything that the industry could have dreamed of in terms of de-regulating live music. So there is a real possibility that the shackles will come off live music in pubs and other entertainment venues.

Basically the proposals suggest that unless more than 5000 people are involved, or the event is boxing wrestling or sexual entertainment, the red tape will be removed meaning that it will not be necessary to have a Premises Licence allowing regulated entertainment.

This consultation may have a far reaching impact on music in pubs. It recognises that much of the necessary regulation for enforcement are contained in other legislation such as the Noise Act, and that licenses should not be burdened by the red tape of the Licensing Act.

The Tourism Minister John Penrose gave examples of events which should not be burdened by red tape. He mentioned school plays, children’s films shown to toddler groups (one of my favourite barmy laws from the last government), school fundraising discos, dancing by children at fetes, folk duos in pubs, pianists in restaurants, brass bands in public parks, and Punch and Judy shows and other performances by street artists.

I suspect that a hard rearguard battle may be fought by the Home Office, the Police, licensing authorities, and environmental health officers, so it will be interesting to see what comes out of the mill. It is also rather strange that if the red tape is removed it will not automatically be removed from those who already have a Premises Licence with regulated entertainment and conditions attached. It will be necessary for an application for variation of the Premises Licence to remove the conditions.

In the meantime the government has confirmed it’s support for the present Bill in Parliament, which clearly may prove to be an interim measure before the major reforms to regulated entertainment can be introduced following more legislation in Parliament.

The closing date for responses to the consultation is 3 December 2011. You can respond by e-mailing to Regulated_entertainment_consultation@culture.gsi.gov.uk

Nigel Musgrove
Licensing Law Specialist 
0845 003 5639