Surviving the election effect
General elections have a habit of interfering with the legislative process, particularly if the outgoing (and it may be) Government is in the midst of a raft of changes that are at different stages in the procedure.
There has been much talk of the "wash up" where only non-controversial legislation is allowed to proceed. But there are also other matters such as Legislative Reform Orders and Statutory Instruments, not to mention Private Members' Bills, which may stutter at the last moment and may or may not be picked up in the new Parliament.
This last-gasp legislation was highlighted for me when the Home Office was unable to publish its own Guidance on mandatory conditions on its own website — referring me to Alcohol Concern for the definitive version! What a shower!
But as with many things, we are not entirely clear on Conservative policy on licensing. Mike Penning, the Tory MP for Hemel Hempstead, went on record as claiming that the Licensing Act was is need of reform, but short of "scrapping" 24-hour drinking, not much else has been heard. I suspect the Tories would support the Draconian approach by the Home Office to the trade and will not overturn mandatory conditions, the second phase of which will go ahead in October whatever happens. But they might add to local government powers if they are lobbied by their pals on Westminster City Council and elsewhere.
The live-music debate will continue, because it is permanently irresolvable. Every Government is between a rock 'n' roll and a hard place here, with intense lobbying from the music campaigners and just as much fuss from anti-noise and environmental health groups.
Whether the final outcome is 100 or 200 as an audience exemption (and the lower figure looks more likely), there will still be strict controls and conditions over live music presentation and I do not see any prospect of the "two in a bar" rule being reintroduced — it just does not fit in with the current scheme of things under a premises licence.
What intrigues me is what will happen to proposals that are currently on the back burner, such as the relaxation in the notice period for temporary events and the abolition of the requirement for local councils to publish a three-year revision of their licensing policies.
This is the sort of licensing material that an incoming minister at the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) will have to face — or will they? A change of Government may well herald a rethink on departmental responsibilities — we know that David Cameron has views on how certain key ministries should be rearranged. However, licensing is not exactly a top policy issue for any of the major parties, although pole dancing and betting shops have featured in the Labour manifesto.
But under a Tory administration, licensing may well have a better chance of moving back to the Home Office permanently, to ensure that strict controls such as the mandatory conditions were the order of the day for the future.
BBPA
This is where the lobbying skills of Brigid Simmonds, of the British Beer & Pub Association, and others will be vital if there is a change of colour at Number 10. Currently, the emphasis is all on the negative aspects of alcohol, particularly on the young. The appointment of a pubs minister in the last weeks of Labour may be viewed in retrospect as tokenism, but it is important that the positive elements of the pub and the requirements for a good and workable licensing system are not forgotten in the welter of new legislation that may come after the election.
