Government plans a red-tape cutback

Government is shortly to release a plan to cut red tape in licensing applications, licensing minister Shaun Woodward has revealed.

In an interview to mark the first anniversary of the Licensing Act's implementation, Woodward also praised the conduct of the trade under the new licensing regime and said it is succeeding in its aim of cutting late-night disorder.

The MP for St Helens admitted mistakes were made in implementing the Act, and said the application forms were "a nightmare".

Woodward labelled the Licensing Act a "massively simplified regime", reducing the number of forms from 200 to 20 and having just one licensing authority.

He said: "I think my predecessor got an awful lot right, but with hindsight I'm sure

he, too, would say that maybe we could have tried the business forms in practice and ac-tually learned that they were something of a nightmare."

He said this issue would be one of those addressed in the forthcoming Better Regulation Simplification Plan. Government departments must produce these to indicate how they are cutting red tape.

Redrafted guidance notes on the Licensing Act are also due to be released soon: which Woodward said would include "points of clarification" on issues such as the single payment date for premises licence fees.

Pointing to successful schemes such as PubWatch, Woodward said he was "impressed" by how seriously the trade has been taking its responsibilities under the Licensing Act .

He added: "It's important to stress that we think there's a determination within the licensed trade to clean up the act of the minority who wilfully - or through carelessness - allow things to go on within their premises that shouldn't be happening.

"That doesn't mean to say that the problem's cracked. But there's goodwill there."

Has the Act made a difference? - Woodward takes a positive view

"Before the Licensing Act, we had a regime in this country whereby children as young as five could be in a nightclub till three in the morning as long as they weren't in the bar area.

"We had a regime that would let children as young as five drink alcohol in a restaurant. That doesn't happen any more. Do I think that the Licensing Act has made a difference? Yes, I do.

"When you put all those issues on the table: health and underage drinking, crime and disorder, public nuisance, public safety and simplification, these are the five areas we've got to judge the Licensing Act by. It's in its early stages, but after one year, do I think the trend is in the right direction on those issues? Yes, I do.

"I think by spreading closing hours over a longer period you are getting a number of things: first of all, from a consumer's point of view there is greater choice - the customer doesn't have to drink half-a-dozen pints by 11 o'clock.

"In terms of that whole business of having everybody spilling onto the streets after they've had a few pints, all in the last half an hour, you've dealt with that too. From the point of view of the police, I think it makes a difference because they're able to again target their resources more effectively.

The anecdotal evidence I've heard from Birmingham, Nottingham, Cardiff and Bristol is that the Licensing Act has been a positive contributory piece of legislation.

And as for those who tried to caricature the Licensing Act as 24-hour lawlessness - this just hasn't happened."

clearer law

The licensing minister has promised to look at clarifying the law on designated premises supervisors (DPS) being in a pub at all times when alcohol is served.

Woodward slated the "perverse reading of the legislation" by Barnsley police, who closed two

pubs while the DPS was absent.

"There's a difference of view: our view is perfectly clear. We will look at this issue to see if we can offer any further clarification to make sure we don't get into the situation where legitimate businesses like this find themselves in a position that we never intended them to be in.

"If it helps us to clarify this in future guidelines as part of the consultation, we will look at how we can make it clearer."

Blameless ban

Woodward, who orchestrated the smoking ban for Northern Ireland, which starts next April, has refuted claims that the ban alone was to blame for business closures.

He said that in the Irish Republic, "dire predictions" of businesses closing after the ban "didn't come true".

Woodward said: "If you are honest about this and looked at the actual figures, you would see that sales of that business had declined over several years.

"It may be that the year in which the smoking ban came in was the year they finally [closed]. But to blame business closure on the smoking ban is a gross misreading of what happened."

Woodward announced the total smoking ban while he was health minister in the Province last October.