Revised guidance on Licensing Act published

The revised guidance for the Licensing Act has been published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

A consultation has been launched by the government department which closes on April 11, 2007.

Major changes include no presumption in favour of longer opening hours, licensees must provide written authorisations for the sale of alcohol in their absence and a clarification of the role of councillors in making licensing decisions.

Licensing Minister Shaun Woodward said: "The Licensing Act gives tough powers to deal with the irresponsible minority and more freedom to the responsible majority. While it's still early days, there are encouraging signs that this is what's being delivered on the ground.

"But there is nearly always a need for some clarification as new legislation beds in. That's what this revised guidance is about. It aims to help local authorities ensure the act is being effectively delivered where it matters - out there in our towns and cities.

"And as the new laws put local councils in the driving seat, we want to hear from them if they think we can improve the guidance further."

The findings of a group of 10 scrutiny councils, which monitored the impact of the Licensing Act between November 2005 and June 2006, have informed the revisions to the guidance.

The revised draft published today is the second and final stage in the process of updating it.

Changes include:

• greater emphasis that there should be no presumption in favour of longer opening hours and that the four main objectives of the act should be paramount in considering any licensing application;
• an expanded section on incidental music, to help local authorities determine whether music falls into this category and is therefore not licensable;
• a recommendation that personal licence holders - those responsible for alcohol sales on a licensed premises - should provide written, rather than verbal, authorisations for the sale of alcohol in their absence; and
• a clarification of the role of councillors in the licensing process, for example to explain when those with a 'prejudicial' iinterest in an application should withdraw from the decision making process.