Hours fixing' is next hurdle facing hosts

The latest twist in the sorry tale of licensing reform ­ and the one probably most important for the majority of licensees ­ is the "fixing" of permitted hours under the new system.

Who is doing the fixing? Well, it isn't just the police, although they have a hand in it. It isn't just the local authorities. It would appear that some of the operating companies are also involved in pre-determining the hours when their pubs will be open after the Second Appointed Day.

What's wrong with that, I hear you cry. Obviously, operators will want a say in opening times. But the problem arises if they seek to impose a set of hours that they say have been "agreed" by the local authority on a tenant or lessee who wants to open at different times.

Some weeks ago, I raised the question of who was responsible for applying for the premises licence. Was it the operating company or the actual licensee? We found that attitudes and approaches varied considerably, but as we get nearer to transition it is clear that several companies are seeking to manage the premises application themselves. This is where the question of operating hours comes in. And it could produce some rather contrived results.

The recent clamourous outpourings from the Daily Mail and others about 24-hour opening could have made some of the industry more nervous about what they ask for. While individual tenants may have a clear idea of what they would like to add on, the operating companies may come at it from a different ­ and more political ­ angle.

Although the Guidance to local authorities ­ published by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport last year ­ specifically counselled against setting pre-determined closing times by area, this does not seem to have deterred a number of authorities from including either tables or lists, which give suggested, recommended or "core" hours defined by the type of area in which the premises are located. This is "zoning" and it makes the whole idea of flexibility a complete non-starter.

There is nothing in the Licensing Act which indicates or allows the licensing authority itself to make any decisions on hours in advance of an application, other than the Guidance on saturation, which has to be a special policy. But I have seen these tables of hours in policy documents without any reference to saturation or any special considerations. What the councils have done in these cases is to make an unsupported decision based on their own ideas of what terminal hours certain areas should have.

It is abundantly clear that there is a concerted effort to fix the hours under the new system in advance, and operating companies are having to take the decision to "co-operate" with the proposed scheme or not. Those that do agree will have to persuade their tenants or lessees in some way that these are the hours that will be allowed in any particular area.

So licensees may be faced with Hobson's choice. Are you to take what your company rep says at face value ­ that the hours are already ordained ­ or can you go it alone and ask for more?

Coupled with this is the prospect of the police also intimating that while they are happy for you to run until midnight on Saturday, if you try and ask for 1am they will oppose you. Will that deter the vast majority of licensees from applying for what they really want? We shall see.

Meanwhile, I should be very happy to hear from readers who have had any pressure put on them, from whatever source, to only apply for specified hours when transition starts. As always, all correspondence will be handled in the strictest confidence.