Handling of Licensing Act under fire again
The government has come under fresh fire for its handling of the Licensing Act - again being accused of "mistakes" in its implementation.
The report from the Better Regulation Commission (BRC), which looks at government performance on regulation, pinpoints a number of areas where the Act was badly handled.
Many of the report's findings echo those of a study published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister last month.
Criticisms levelled in the report include the "overly long and complicated" application process faced by licensees and the unexpected costs for pubs, such as having to pay for local newspaper advertising.
Rick Haythornthwaite, chairman of the BRC, said: "The unfortunate irony is that the Licensing Act 2003 was widely expected to be a large deregulatory proposal, to slash bureaucracy and deliver big savings for the hospitality and leisure industry.
"We received representations from businesses complaining that it was having the opposite effect."
The BRC has also made a number of recommendations to the government, including a call to simplify the licensing forms and the removal of the need for pubs to place newspaper ads notifying residents of longer hours.
But a spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport disputed some of the BRC's findings. "As with any major transition process, there are lessons to be learned, but the position is not straightforward," she said.
"While the report highlights the way in which some things may have been done better, in some instances we think that the commission is not correct - for example, it claims that local residents would be liable for costs if a council's decision is overturned by the courts."
But Bill Campbell, licensee at the Railway Bell Hotel, in Kidderminster, experienced a number of problems with the system, including a mix-up over his grandfather rights.
He added: "The whole system has not made the publican's life any better and was just a licence for solicitors and councils to print money."
