Licensing reform costs top £120m

BBPA says each licence costs an average of £2,000

by Ewan Turney

The cost of implementing the new licensing regime is likely to cost the industry more than £120m, according to the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

The association believes the sheer cost of the process is one of the main reasons why the rate of applications has been so slow. The licensing White Paper had originally promised a cost saving of £1.9bn for the industry.

The estimate is based on calculations from BBPA members that obtaining a new licence has cost an average of £2,000 per pub. The sum factors in the cost of plans, licensing and legal fees as well as the necessary man hours required.

But BBPA communications manager Christine Milburn said: 'Although this is a one-off cost and there will be undoubted benefits, at the end of the day it is a big chunk for a small businessman, like a licensee, to swallow all in one year.

Don Bridgman, chief executive of Brakspear, said his tenants were 'facing major problems in the form of a '3,000% increase in the cost of renewing their licence. 'Brakspear is doing everything we can to help our tenants through this process from providing advice, to access to solicitors, to providing plans and now financial support, he said. 'However, this is still a major problem affecting not only our tenants but the entire pub trade across the country.

Meanwhile, the country's largest licensing authority, Westmin- ster, is preparing to hold a crisis summit next week to discuss the situation after both 6 August and 24 November deadlines. The council has received just 19% of applications, one-fifth of which have been error ridden. The Westminster Licensees Associa-tion and the BBPA will both attend.

Local government co-ordinator LACORS said the average number of premises licences submitted to local authorities currently stands at just 17%, 30 days before the 6 August deadline for grandfather rights. The proportion varies between 8% and 22%.

However, as predicted in last week's Morning Advertiser, the larger pubcos and operators are putting the finishing touches to their applications.

JD Wetherspoon completed its submission of all 600 premises licence applications for pubs in England and Wales this week. The operator has applied for a variation at every single outlet with extensions of between one and three hours.

'It's been an enormous administration task for which we've had external lawyers helping us all the way, said legal director Clare Eamens. 'It's taken my attention since February and will probably continue until the end of the year.

l Coulson's advice p18