Councils juggle Acts
I commented a couple of weeks' ago that licensees were fearful of putting in their forms for transition, because they were not sure how to complete them "properly". Now there is clear evidence that some licensing authorities are not even sure themselves of what constitutes "grandfather rights".
Schedule 8 of the Licensing Act 2003, which covers transitional arrangements, requires that the premises licence, which is granted on completion of Part A of the application a straight conversion must be granted subject to conditions that reproduce the effect of any restriction imposed by the Licensing Act 1964. This means that the licensing authority must actually know the whole of the 1964 Act before they sit down and write out the new licence.
They don't.
The problem is that a considerable number of licensing officers cannot possibly have done their homework sufficiently to recognise what are "embedded conditions" and what are not. It has taken people like me hours of work to understand the full implications of the existing law, let alone the new one. It is asking a great deal to expect relatively inexperienced local government officers in many parts of the country to have a comprehensive knowledge of both the new and old laws.
For example, permitted hours. Does every licensing authority fully understand what the current licensing hours are? I have asked a couple of them in recent days and they have got them wrong. Similarly, conditions on children's certificates, special hours certificates and other types of extension. In order to issue the new premises licence with conditions that replicate existing ones, these officers have to spend a great deal of time working out each application.
Of course, they have that time at present. When you are dallying around with five applications in three months, you can afford to look carefully at every aspect. But if you do not know the law in the first place, even that time may be wasted.
What it is going to be like when the rush starts to happen is anyone's guess. It is not just a question of ticking off boxes, remember. The licensing officers have to issue a new licence, complete with conditions and hours. It must comply with the existing law. If it is wrong, the applicant has the opportunity to appeal.
Who is going to check whether the conditions imposed on the new premises licences are accurate or not? Sometimes, even the licensees will not know, unless they are legally advised. On rare occasions, even the legal advisers may miss a trick.
For example every converted premises licence must have New Year's Eve hours round the clock extended from the terminal on 31 December until the commencement time on 1 January, whether you intend to use it or not. An artificially-early closing time cannot be imposed on a straight conversion.
Also, there is no requirement for public houses to close to the public outside the permitted hours under the existing law, only to cease the sale and consumption of alcohol. Again, if there is a Part A conversion, the licensing authority is not in a position to stipulate actual "closing times". But I am sure they will be imposed automatically.
The other important point about applications made by a local government officer is that a form cannot be returned if the licensing objectives section is "defective". It is not up to the licensing authority to judge on that only those entitled to make representations. This is not a "Ten Commandments" section, set by the council, whatever it thinks.
Grandfather rights? You'd better be sure you know what you're getting!
