Autumn has arrived - has your licence?

Officially, we are now into autumn, so I assume that "the end of summer" has come and gone...

Not in licensing, it hasn't.

The "end of summer" phrase was used by the Scrutiny Councils - that brave collection of "good" local authorities who joined up with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to analyse progress on the new licensing laws. Even they admitted that not all licences had been issued, but that they were confident they would all be out by summer's end.

Well, the leaves are falling and they aren't. It is nothing short of a scandal that there are still pub owners waiting for a licence that should have been in place last November.

But who is doing anything about it? No-one, that I can see, particularly LACORS — the local government co-ordinating body which is meant to ensure that we get good administration of licensing and other matters.

The DCMS certainly isn't stirring. Hard on the heels of what it still claims is the "success" of licensing transition, it has managed to postpone the start of gaming transition by three months - to the chagrin of efficient councils that wanted to get going, but presumably to the relief of the inefficient mob that are still languishing in town halls trying to cobble together a few more pub licences.

So we have a mess at the top; and a mess at the bottom. And in between is this rather uninspiring lot who do not seem to have any teeth at all when it comes to actually monitoring local authority practices.

You see, there is no penalty for backsliding councils. The ones who have not issued all their licences (and there are many) face no sanction, not even a slapped wrist. The licensed trade cannot do anything, short of applying for what is called judicial review, which is hardly proportionate. Unlike licensees, who are faced throughout with deadlines and notice periods, there is nothing in the Licensing Act itself that actually compels local authorities to issue the paper licence within a fixed period. Even though there was a provision in the transition process that allowed a converting licensee to consider the new licence granted after a period of two months, there was no subsequent section which laid down a period in which it then had to be issued.

Yet even over the last few months councils are still claiming that the "late delivery" of applications is to blame for the tardy response. But they have now had well over a year since the last envelope hit their mat. And it appears that LACORS will not even name and shame those councils that are not up to the mark.

As I wrote last week, many landlords

are looking to make some changes to

their operation through a variation. What an irony, when in the box marked "Why have

you not enclosed your licence?" they have to write "Because you have not issued it yet"!

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which oversaw local government, no longer exists. The successors do not seem interested in licensing, feeling that it is the province of the DCMS. The DCMS has shown absolutely no interest in the missing licences, feeling it is the province of LACORS. And the response of LACORS is: show us which councils are failing to deliver and we will do something about it.

Well, I have a challenge to Derek Allen and his crew: ensure that by 24 November - a year after the Second Appointed Day - all alcohol and entertainment licences are safely in the hands of those who are entitled to them. Is that too much to ask? A year late?

Licensing@aol.com

The oldest profession

QFollowing a police clampdown in this area, I have been warned about prostitutes and have been advised that my staff should not serve anyone if they think she is a working girl. I remember this in the old law. Is it still an offence?

AThe answer is no. The offence of allowing known prostitutes to remain on licensed premises has not been repeated in the Licensing Act 2003, so from the second appointed day, it ceased to be an offence.

There are those who mistakenly hold that all the old offences carried forward on

conversion. But I have yet to see a converted licence that carries this as a condition.

So the police could not take direct action. However, a licence could be called in for review if it was alleged that the premises were being used for soliciting or other unsavoury activities on which the licensing authority received representations. But there would have to be a specific complaint for this to be done, because there would not be an offence involving prosecution.

Taking single days off

Q My full-time bar manager has recently told me she has a disabled youngster, about whom I knew nothing when I took over. She had not mentioned this before. She now wants to take Wednesday afternoons off to take him to a hospital appointment for a course of treatment. This is a scheduled working time. Can she make a claim like this? I thought this was only allowed when the baby was very young.

AEmployment laws continue to be strengthened, in line with Europe. It is true that the parents of disabled children now have enhanced rights with regard to parental leave from work. The right to take parental leave lasts in such cases up until the child's 18th birthday. The normal extent is until the child's fifth birthday.

Also, parents of disabled children may take leave a day at a time, whereas other parents must make arrangements for leave in blocks of a week or more.

However, all parents must comply with the regulations in order to claim entitlement. The first condition is that the parent must have worked for you for at least one year. Secondly, she has to give you at least 21 days' notice of the times she wants to take off. Thirdly, there is a maximum of four weeks' parental leave in any one year.

But this is clearly a case where you need to have a proper discussion with her, so that you can work out the best arrangements. If the child has a disability living allowance, for example, transport help may be possible unless the child has to be accompanied by a parent to this course. Failure to comply with the regulations could be taken to an employment tribunal.

Betting on dominoes

QI have recently taken over a city pub where they play dominoes a lot. It creates a major talking point, but some of the players (and spectators) put quite a bit of money on the games. Is this legal?

ANothing to do with gaming in pubs is ever taken lightly, and you are right to question what is going on. Although you do not need an actual permission for dominoes (and cribbage) to be played for money, this should be for small stakes, not wads of notes. And the matter of side bets is a cause for concern. The players are allowed to wager on the games, but non-participants should not be involved as this is clearly unlawful betting, for which you are not licensed, and could result in a caution or even a prosecution.