Neame leads campaign to axe licensing reform plans

Licensees, pub companies and brewers are being urged to get behind a campaign to scrap the government's licensing reform plans.

Stuart Neame (pictured)​, vice chairman of Kent brewer Shepherd Neame and an outspoken campaigner against many of the government's proposals on licensing, believes the best way forward for the trade is to "kill the bill".

He said the problems the reform could bring with it far outweigh the benefits and he warned the proposed system would prove costly and time-consuming for licensees and pub operators.

It is widely expected a licensing bill will be in the Queen's Speech in November and, with limited time now available for consultation, Mr Neame is urging the industry to make a stand.

"Significant changes to the bill are unlikely now," he said. "The thinking behind it is rotten to the core - it's all about more regulation, not about deregulation.

"The only way forward is to start again from scratch, picking up what's good from this bill, but starting with a different mindset on how to simplify things. That can only happen when this bill is dead and buried."

Another outspoken opponent of the plans, JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin, said he was "with Stuart Neame all the way".

"It's time for the great and the good to get off the fence and support common sense. Let's get behind Stuart's campaign," he added.

The licensing bill is expected to include flexible licensing laws, a new system of personal and premises licences, licensing controlled by local authorities and the abolition of children's certificates and public entertainment licences.

But Mr Neame warned the government would not deliver what it has promised.

He has analysed the government's drafting instructions, which detail the reforms outlined in the government's licensing white paper.

He said his investigation discovered just one major benefit of the plans, while several benefits that were promised by the government will not be delivered, and there would even be some new restrictions placed on licensees and operators.

Mark Hastings of the British Beer and Pub Association agreed. "Our members said that we should stay at the negotiating table and keep talking to the government to try and make the bill work," he said.

But a spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said culture secretary Tessa Jowell had been clear when she spoke at the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers' 10th anniversary celebration last month.

Mrs Jowell said: "There will be reductions in bureaucracy and costs - very significant reductions - and there will be fairness and transparency in licensing administration.

"I can assure you that a bill will be ready for presentation in Parliament in its next session, if consent is given."

Stuart Neame's analysis​

Benefits that will be delivered:

• Longer opening hours for some pubs

Benefits promised but not delivered:

• Portable personal licences and stand-alone premises licences
• Clarification over children in pubs
• Simplified administration

New restrictions placed on operators:

• Preparation of an operating plan
• Capacity limit
• Responsibility to prevent crime and disorder, ensure public safety and prevent nuisance
• Higher licensing fees
• Local authority administration