Licensing reform will cost licensees more, says Neame
Kill the Bill campaigner Stuart Neame has accused the government of fiddling the figures over licensing reform. Stuart Neame, vice chairman of Kent brewer Shepherd Neame, claims that ministers have based estimates for the total cost of the new system on incorrect information.
He says this nullifies their claim that the reform will save the trade £1.9b - and claims it will in fact cost licensees an extra £1.1b over the first 10 years.
Mr Neame has led a campaign against the government's new licensing proposals which he claims will be time-consuming and bureaucratic.
As his company announced a healthy set of results this week, Mr Neame said research in his own estate had found that the cost of licensing for the average pub was only £100 a year under the current system - not £1,000-£7,000 as ministers have suggested.
Mr Neame said: "The government said the new system would save £1.9bn over 10 years and we in the licensed trade have always been puzzled how this could be so. The cabinet needs to think hard about introducing a licensing bill based on more bureaucracy."
Many licensees, especially under local authorities such as Westminster, fear that the number of appeals and judicial court cases will rise under the new licensing regime.
This in turn will cost the industry more money in legal fees fighting the decisions of local authorities.
A spokesman for central London bar company Soho Bars has also questioned the real costs that the new licensing regime will bring.
He said: "We have spent around £700,000 in the last two years simply maintaining licences and defending ourselves against an aggressive licensing regime."
But the Department of Culture, Media and Sport has responded by confirming that it still believes licensing reform will save money for the pub industry.
A spokesman for the government department said: "We do have confidence in our figures which were provided by the industry and we are confident that the new regime will deliver savings for the industry."
