Council slammed for new licensing bureaucracy

A council in the West Country has been criticised for trying to force more bureaucracy onto licensees to meet the requirements of the new Licensing Act.​ Taunton Deane Borough Council has created a premises licence form with tick boxes so that licensees can highlight how they intend to meet the licensing objectives -despite the fact that the act does not allow local authorities to create additional forms.

Under the new regime licensees will have to fill out a premises licence form detailing how they plan to operate their premises and how they will prevent crime and disorder and public nuisance, protect children from harm and ensure public safety.

Taunton's form includes topics such as offering toughened glass to serve drinks, banning all-inclusive nights or other irresponsible promotions or serving food.

While the council says this is not mandatory for licensees to fill in there are fears that licensees could feel coerced to use the forms and that other local authorities could try to follow suit.

Jim Hunter, licensing manager for the council, said: "I can't see how a licensee can explain how they intend to meet the licensing objectives in a couple of lines. Licensees in Taunton do not have a clue about what they should be doing.

"The intention is to give licensees a check list of what they need to fill in."

But a spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said the forms were "completely illegal". "Only the secretary of state can issue forms to help a licensee with their application and instruct them to fill them in," she said.

However, there is no restriction on the local authority providing a list of suggestions and assistance on the language licensees could use to fill out the forms.

The British Beer & Pub Association said it was keen to see as simple an approach to the licensing forms as possible.

"In the case of Taunton we support the idea of simplicity but the forms must be specified by statute," said spokeswoman Christine Milburn.

The Publican's law team Joelson Wilson has sent a letter to the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) claiming the new premises licence forms are time consuming and poorly drafted. It claims that filling in the forms is not a straightforward procedure but more like a "school exam". Click hereto read the letter in full.