Young blasts licensing costs

Young's chairman John Young attacked the cost of licensing reform at this week's AGM.

Young hit out at the 'hysterical stories about 24-hour pubs and said they 'disguise the real problems thrown up by the Government's new Licensing Act.

He also criticised councils for interpreting the Licensing Act 'inconsistently and often outside the scope of the Act and the law.

He continued: 'Under the old act, we served a single-sheet form for a licence to the police, the clerk to the justices and the local authorities, and placed a copy of the notice in the window of the premises and an advert in the local paper.

'The cost of the old licence was £30 every three years that's £10 a year.

'The cost of the new licences in our pubs is as high as £2,300 and there is annual administration fee of as much as £350 on top.

'Under the new act, instead of a one-page notice, we have to serve 41 pages, seven copies and in one case 12, to various authorities costing £35 in postage, display a notice in the pub window and put an advert in the local paper.

Young added: 'The old Licensing Act was straight forward and inexpensive, with all licensing justices acting voluntarily and for no payment.

'Now, we are faced with local authorities fixing substantial fees, many of which will fall upon the backs of small individual businesses.

The chairman listed a string of ridiculous demands from local authorities.

He said one council objected to a window notice in a Young's pub because it was printed in 'the wrong shade of blue.

At another pub, the firm was told it must employ a doorman with a 'clicker to make sure it didn't exceed its capacity of 110.

'We already have a booking in August for a 100 upstairs and a 100 downstairs, which we may have to cancel, Young said.

'This in a pub that can comfortably hold 250.