Licensing red tape headache

Hosts face a postcode lottery over the amount of paperwork they will have to cope with when making licence applications.

A survey of 112 draft local authority licensing policies has found a huge variation in the size and complexity of individual policies.

They vary from just five pages in Wychavon District Council to 79 pages in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Including appendices, Wakefield's policy tops the list with a whopping 114 pages.

The average length is 26 pages, or 37 including appendices.

Some councils seem to want to micro-manage their local pubs, yet it was never the intention of the Licensing Act to allow councils to introduce such complexity​Rob HaywardBBPA

Licensees who want to vary a licence or apply for a new licence will have to get to grips with the policies, which cover a range of areas including saturation policies, opening hours and crime and disorder issues.

The British Beer and Pub Association, which undertook the study, noted big differences in the length of policies between neighbouring councils.

For example, a study of three West Midlands boroughs found that Bromsgrove's policy had just seven pages, compared to Birmingham on 41 pages including appendices, and next-door Dudley at 70 pages.

The BBPA said some policies contain provisions that are beyond the scope of the 2003 Licensing Act.

In some areas, licensees applying for variations in their licence or new applicants will be faced with the costly decision to hire a solicitor just to get to grips with the detail and how it might affect their business.

The lengthy policy of Blaby in Leicestershire, for example, even covers issues such as allowing dogs on the premises - and keeping a torch behind the bar.

BBPA chief executive Rob Hayward said: "If councils like Bromsgrove can keep their licensing policy to just seven pages, it is a mystery why others are so long and cover such a vast range of issues - especially when the Act is working well.​

"Some councils seem to want to micro-manage their local pubs, yet it was never the intention of the Licensing Act to allow councils to introduce such complexity into their licensing policies.

"Highly detailed guidance and instructions on how to apply for a licence shouldn't be necessary in individual councils, as this is all covered in the Act.

"The 2003 Act was a major cost to pubs. Some of these policies will create future bureaucratic burdens for pub companies and licensees."