Reform postponement now almost inevitable
Local government and trade unite in face of DCMS inaction
by Tony Halstead
Pressure is growing on the Government to abandon the 7 February start date for licensing transition with no sign of premises licence forms and other regulations from the Department for Culture Media & Sport.
Without the forms they need to implement the new procedures, pub operators, licensees and local authorities are working in the dark and a postponement of the "First Appointed Day" now looks ever more likely.
LACORS, the Local Govern-ment Co-ordinator of Regu-latory Services, is the latest body to add its weight to growing demands for a rethink of the transitional timetable.
The Local Government Asso-ciation, representing 400 local councils taking on new licensing responsibilities, also believes the delay is now critical.
It said that unless the regulations were laid before parliament this week, councils were going to be placed in an incredibly difficult position.
One licensees group, the Federation of Licensed Victual-ler Associations, is already warning its members to apply for this year's Christmas extensions from magistrates to guard against the new Licensing Act being delayed into 2006.
Chief executive Tony Payne said: "I can't see things getting through in time and our association would, in fact, prefer a delay.
"There are still no premises licence variation/conversion forms or details of the plans local councils will require, so unless something happens very quickly, transition will have to be put back."
LGA spokeswoman Trish O'Flynn added: "This is all getting very late and it is putting pressure on everyone.
"We have already asked the DCMS to look at how feasible the First Appointed Day now appears."
Morning Advertiser legal expert Peter Coulson said there was now a feeling that the 7 February start date will be postponed.
"I just cannot see how everything is going to fall into place in time and we now have just three weeks to go.
"Apart from the delay in the regulations, it is still not clear whether local councils have met last week's deadline for publication of their final licensing policies."
Coulson said licensing minister Richard Caborn had the authority to change the date of the First Appointed Day but the six-month transitional period was a legal requirement.
Individual licensees are also becoming frustrated, particularly those up-to-speed operators keen to get going at the earliest opportunity.
Shaun Rennison, who runs three pubs operated by SCR Ltd, Hull, said: "Things appear to be slipping all the time with this Act and it's an embarrassment for the Government. We have been trying to consult with our local council but it's been a very one-sided conversation."
Anita Adams, licensee of the Golden Slipper, York, said: "This is nothing less than a shambles which has been the hallmark of this Act since it was introduced."
The DCMS insisted this week that it was still on schedule to meet the 7 February deadline.
But a spokesperson could still not give a specific date for the regulations to be published except to say it would be "within the next few days".
Publication of the fees structure is also subject to delay after the DCMS received 500 submissions before its consultation deadline on 23 December.
l Leader column p14
l Coulson's view p16
