Trade calls for 1am extension

ALMR proposes pubs be automatically allowed an extra two hours

Pubs should automatically be allowed to open until 1am regardless of objections from residents, according to the trade's latest proposals for licensing reform.

The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) has been consulting with its member companies since May and has now drafted a set of demands to present to ministers.

The document includes proposals that, under a new licensing regime, applications for extended hours until 1am should automatically be approved, with residents' views only being considered for applications to open after this time.

The ALMR's recommendations are due to be launched today (October 1) during a fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference.

Also attending will be a representative of the Isle of Man government which changed its own licensing regime earlier this year and claims later opening has helped cut violence.

The proposals are the next stage in the trade's campaign to put reform back on the political agenda and offer solutions to the question of how a new regime would work in practice.

Pub operators have backed the proposals, which do not specify whether local authorities or magistrates should have responsibility for licensing but instead offer a list of the trade's requirements which would need to be fulfilled by whichever body takes charge.

The ALMR hopes that by taking a non-confrontational stance on the issue, ministers may be more receptive to trade wishes.

Nick Bish, chief executive of the ALMR, said: "The aim of the paper is to inform not only the development of the proposed Bill, but also parliamentary debate on its contents, subsequent secondary legislation and, most importantly, the national guidance the Government intends to issue to licensing authorities."

The paper includes demands for:

• all members of the chosen licensing committee to hold the National Licensee's Certificate
• set procedures for licensing hearings, with consideration to pub operators' views as well as residents
• all applications to be approved automatically if no decision is taken within three months
• automatic approval of opening hours if they do not exceed 1am
• clearly identified issues to which the licensing authority should not refer, for example matters covered by existing law, demand or need, the type of alcohol to be sold and the manner of selling.

Mr Bish added: "We remain to be convinced that local authorities could deliver the type of regime this paper envisages. It is for them to prove otherwise."

This latest move follows much in-fighting among trade leaders as to who should have control, with a group led by JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin and Stuart Neame, vice-chairman of Kent brewer Shepherd Neame, strongly opposing the Government's plans to move licensing control away from magistrates and over to local authorities. Read their alternative licensing bill.

The whole issue of licensing reform has been sidelined in recent months after ministers decided not to include the licensing white paper in this year's Queen's Speech, a decision that has angered licensees.

Related stories​

Flexible hours still on the agenda (21 June 2001)

Licensing reform "to be shelved for at least two years" (17 June 2001)