Minister praises "culture of responsibility" in the pub trade

The new Licensing Act has heralded a "new culture of responsibility" in the pub trade according to licensing minister Shaun Woodward.

In an interview with thepublican.com to mark the first anniversary of the new licensing laws, which falls on November 24, the minister said it was clear that no-one wanted to go back to the old regime.

"The flexibility and simplification is right, and there is no evidence to support the fact that the tiny minority of licensees who have 24-hour licences are contributing to the myth of binge-drinking," he said.

The minister claimed all the objectives of the Act were slowly being met.

"The major targets of the Act were centred around public safety, prevention of nuisance, protection of children and crime and disorder - and, while one year doesn't really give enough time to really get a sense of the results, the trends are in the right direction.

"It is helping us to bring about a more responsive and responsible culture in relation to alcohol abuse - it's not cracked it but it's helped."

Woodward said he had been encouraged by a late-night outing with police in his St Helens constituency last Friday.

"My sense of what I saw is that staggered closing times have undoubtedly helped the fact that not everyone is tipped out from all the pubs at the same time, and it has helped that people aren't now - as the Prime Minister said at the time of the introduction of the Act - having three or four swift pints in the last 25 minutes before closing time," he said.

But the minister could not clarify any further on the issue which has been vexing both local authorities and licensees - when a single date for annual licence payments will be set.

He said the Department for Culture, Media & Sport was waiting to receive a report from Sir Les Elton's fees review panel before making a decision.

For the full interview with the minister click on the link to the right.