Pressure mounting for licensing reform delay

BII leads the campaign urging the Government to take action

by John Harrington

The Government is coming under intense pressure from both the trade and local authorities to push back the deadlines for the new licensing regime.

British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) chief executive John Mc-Namara has led the call for the newly-elected Government to delay implementation of the Second Appointed Day by a full eight months, to July 2006.

And he urged the Government to enact fresh legislation that would set back the deadline for submitting applications for grandfather rights by "at least six months" past the current date of 6 August. One of the problems, he explained, was that licensees were having to wait up to 10 weeks to get plans drawn up.

"We're heading for a catastrophe," said McNamara. "To put it politely, we're drifting up a creek near a sewage plant, without a paddle. I call on this Govern-ment to recognise there is an issue. Let's try for a smooth landing, not a crash landing."

His remarks come as the Local Government Association (LGA) described the current situation as a "crisis". Less than 5% of applications for premises licence conversions have been submitted halfway through the transition period with many returned for re-submission because of mistakes, according to a survey, the Local Government Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS), revealed exclusively to the Morning Advertiser.

The MA also understands that Westminster City Council is to launch a joint bid with the Westminster Licensees Associa-tion to lobby to push back the 6 August deadline and the Second Appointed Day.

A council source said: "We are looking for a recognition from the Government that the date is not working. Then we can have a serious talk to work out a new timescale. If this many licensing applications have been returned then there is clearly something wrong with the system."

McNamara spelt out theproblems facing hosts when headdressed the BII Annual Luncheon in London on Tuesday.

"Licensees have had to contend with late submission of regulations and difficulty in getting plans, in some cases experiencing a two-month wait," he said.

"The BII urges the Govern-ment to extend the Second Appointed Day, expected to be 7 November 2005, and to pass a Single Clause Bill to extend the date for grandfather rights. The industry needs help with this complex process and does not want to be pushed into a position where licensees are without licences and operating illegally."

The Government would have no problem postponing the Second Appointed Day because the date has not been written into legislation.

However, pushing back the 6 August deadline for submissions would require a new act of Parliament. A Bill to delay the Act would have to be pushed through at lightening speed, and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) would be reluctant to do so because it could look like admitting failure.

The country's largest firm of licensing solicitors, Poppleston Allen, is also looking to persuade the Government to delay implementation, ideally by altering the 6 August deadline.

Poppleston Allen solicitor Jeremy Allen said: "The principal problem is getting plans drawn up. As a result of that, there may be an awful lot of people who are not able to submit their licences by 6 August to keep their grandfather rights.

"Ideally, we would like them to increase the level of transition period, but the fallback position would be to postpone the Second Appointed Day and allow people more time to obtain new licences."

Bar Entertainment & Dance Association chief executive Jon Collins compared the implementation of the Licensing Act with the Security Industry Authority (SIA) doorstaff licensing regime. In both cases, reports of delays and problems at the start meant the process of implementation "lacked momentum".

Collins said: "We probably will be in support of calls for a delay to the Second Appointed Day. Ideally we would like them to move the 6 August [deadline] but that seems beyond the Government at the moment."

LGA licensing spokeswoman Trish O'Flynn said the transition period was "shaping up to be a crisis". She added: "I think it would help if the 6 August deadline were moved. The alternative would be to defer the Second Appointed Day."