Tories stoke rumours of licensing shake-up

The Conservatives want to "rationalise" the number of Government departments dealing with pubs — adding weight to rumours they'd put the Home Office back in charge of alcohol licensing.

When questioned on the recent rumours, Conservative licensing spokesman Tobias Ellwood bemoaned the "confusing number of departments that pubs, indeed the licensing industry, need to work with".

He told the Morning Advertiser​: "We are looking at ways in which this can be rationalised. Should we win the election, we will look at this and then make an announcement."

On the face of it, shifting responsibility back to the Home Office signifies a tougher approach. The Conservatives have already proposed hard-line policies, such as a "late-night levy" on pubs.

However, industry experts say it would merely cement the status quo, because most major plans for alcohol, such as the mandatory code, have come from the Home Office.

Such a move could see the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), which currently has responsibility for licensing, being disolved or reformed — perhaps with more focus on sport as the Olympics approaches. Licensing would go to the Home Office.

MA legal editor Peter Coulson said: "It wouldn't surprise me if licensing went back to the Home Office at some stage, although I wouldn't have thought it would be a Tory priority."

News that the number of departments could be reduced may be useful for the industry as it would simplify the relations with Government.

However, the chairman of Noctis, Jon Collins, said: "Where the regulator sits is, in a way, incidental. As an industry we have to engage with the Government in multiple departments. It is always going to be a confusing and complex regulatory picture."

Meanwhile, the Labour Party has denied rumours that it also plans to switch responsibility for licensing to the Home Office after the election.

"It's not being discussed at all," said a source.