Licensing@aol.com

Restaurant and off-sales

QNow that the new licensing laws

are in place and restaurants have

the same licence as pubs, can a local

restaurant near to us make off-sales of its own house wine?

A A restaurant which held a licence under Part IV of the Licensing Act 1964 was not authorised to make off-sales of any kind, according to the Act. That was a restriction on the original licence, which would have been carried forward on conversion in the majority of cases.

The purpose for which a Part IV licence was granted was for the sale or supply of intoxicating liquor for consumption as an ancillary to their meals. Liquor which is taken away from the premises is not

"ancillary" to a meal taken on the premises, and in my view never could be.

Premises holding a residential licence, which means certain hotels and boarding houses, are entitled to supply drinks to

accompany a meal which is to be taken from the premises by a resident (for example, a "packed lunch"). But this provision in no way applies to a normal restaurant, and in any case will only cover persons resident on

the premises.

If restaurants applied to vary their operation during transition, for example to add extra trading hours, they might have thought to remove the restrictions which came over from the old law. But it seems many of them did not, and they will

therefore still be constrained by the rules on only serving alcohol to persons taking meals, and as an ancillary to the meal itself.

The restaurant would therefore need a variation of its licence to remove the

restaurant conditions in order to make sales of this kind. There are now a number of off-licence shops and delicatessens which have gained a "hybrid" licence allowing them not only to sell food from shelves but also to supply wine to tables.

Golf contest for men only

QI should like to know if it is

permissible for a licensee to run a golf tournament or even a crib contest where entry is restricted to men only. Would the discrimination laws apply? What would happen if only men entered?

A The Sex Discrimination Act does affect the licensed trade in a number of ways with regard to the provision of goods or services, and also in advertising for staff.

There appears to be a distinction here between the two activities, however. While the game of cribbage is not one where there is any degree of physical strength involved, golf is a sport where this would come into play and where, on average, the strength of a man would be considered different from that of a woman. Therefore, section 44 of the Act would apply to make a single-sex golf competition not unlawful.

Cribbage competitions in the pub itself should be open to both sexes, because there is no logical reason to keep the sexes apart in this instance. However, the discrimination laws would not be infringed if only men

applied to take part, as the actual

competition was an open one.

Test purchases

QCan you tell me which department of the council is technically responsible for sending children into pubs?

AIt is the weights and measures

inspectorate, which is now part of what is called trading standards. They can engage young people to help them. Alternatively, the police themselves can embark on test purchases in their own right. Either can prosecute if they discover offences.