As councils fall behind

There may be many licensees waking up this morning in a state of limbo. The reason for this is that, for the first time in their trade careers, they do not have written permission to open their pubs.

Reports reaching me suggest a number of local authorities have not yet completed the necessary work of compiling and issuing licences which have been granted, let alone arranging hearings for those that are the subject of representations or appeals. All this means is that many licensees do not know exactly where they stand legally.

They do not have a summary of their new licence to post up on the premises, as I suggested last week that they should. Yet they know from the council that their application has been approved, or that there were no representations against it.

As I understand it, the police are being advised to take a relaxed approach to the situation, because the failure is not the fault of the licensed trade.

In some areas, the council is so far behind that it is unlikely variation applications will be re-heard until after Christmas, or even the end of January. Meanwhile, the pub should not be forced to shut just because the council has failed to issue the paperwork.

What should you do if you have not yet received your premises licence? The first thing is clearly to contact the licensing authority and ask what has happened, and when you will receive it. If you know for sure it has been granted, you can at least seek a licence number which you can keep to hand, to show the police if there is any inquiry.

Failing this - in cases where the licensing authority acknowledges the grant but cannot give further details or where it has simply failed to answer you - you should have to hand your application form and the proof of posting (a copy will in any event have been sent to the police).

This will show that the application was made, in case there is any doubt about it.

There are one or two examples of transition applications that are now well past their two-month date and which you are entitled to consider as a 'deemed grant' of conversion.

So at least you are confident that you have what you hold, and can run the pub exactly the way it was run yesterday.

The problem will come with a 'deemed refusal' of a variation.

I know of many incidents where the two-month period elapsed without a decision being made, even though there were no representations. Unfortunately, the Licensing Act provides that, where this happens, the application is deemed to be refused, so that even where nobody objected and the licensing authority was under a duty to grant the licence, it is considered rejected because of the wording of schedule 8 of the new Act. This is very unfair indeed on the licensed trade, because that means a further application to magistrates to gain approval. In many cases magistrates are then referring the application back to councils, which means a further delay because authorities are so far behind with their work.

I have heard the argument that where there are no representations against a variation, then, because the Act states clearly that the licensing authority must grant the application, it can be considered a 'deemed grant'.

With regret, I cannot agree. A variation has to be 'determined' by the licensing authority.

If it has not got round to making a determination, they are at fault, but the remedy lies with the magistrates. In this instance, where there have been no representations, I do not think the magistrates should remit the matter to the council.

It would be much more efficient, and fairer on the licensed trade, if they immediately confirmed the lack of represen- tations and granted the new varied licence as requested.

But the courts are also under pressure to find time to do this routine job.

In some areas they are talking about hearings lasting well into the New Year. They cannot prioritise the 'rubber-stamping' of unopposed licences.

The situation is compounded by the failure of some councils to issue personal licences, even to the designated premises supervisor (DPS).

Councils are issuing warning letters that, unless the DPS has a personal licence, the premises may not open.

This is vitally important, and I am sure all readers who have not yet received their personal licences have been in direct contact with the issuing authority to confirm that they have been granted, even if the card and paper licences have not yet been received.

Again, try to find out the licence number, so you can add it to the summary if necessary, or least have it ready if

it is demanded by the police.

If the licence has been granted but not yet issued, you are entitled to open the pub. But you must have some proof that you are duly licensed to trade.

It is greatly to be hoped that all police forces will recognise the terrible position that the licensed trade has been placed in, and will not 'come down hard' on those who cannot produce the physical evidence on the spot - as some chief officers have been stating in the press. This is not a problem of the licensed trade's making. It was a predictable outcome of the transitional arrangements, of an under-funded and overworked local bureaucracy and the Government's inability to assess the time needed to amend more than 170,000 licences and certificates. It would be grossly unfair if the only section to suffer penalties in these circumstances were the hapless licensees, who did not want this level of bureaucracy and have had to sit back and wait while councils stumbled along, granting only a percentage of the licences they were asked to process.