Licensing to feel the pinch

I have just completed a variation application for large premises in west London.

The basic cost of this so far is just under £1,000 because it involves minor changes to the times for the sale of alcohol, which cannot be achieved by the minor variation procedure. The actual sales area is small, but because the fee is related to the rateable value of the whole premises, we have to pay the maximum.

Added to this is the amount of paperwork.

This particular licensing authority, in common with the majority throughout England and Wales, has no facility for electronic application, some six months after the deadline imposed by the Government for a centralised online application procedure.

Informally I have been told that there is no immediate prospect of this being achieved, and the budget controls imposed by the new Government are going to make this even less likely. I am sure that it is the same story everywhere else.

So we have sent out no less than eight paper copies of the application, all by recorded delivery, to the responsible authorities, instead of hitting a button on the computer and sending one email message. Perhaps significantly, this authority produced on its website copies of all the relevant application forms except the variation one, but all the downloadable copies are straight PDFs, meaning you would have to fill them in by hand rather than electronically.

The electronic versions are available from the Department for Culture Media & Sport (DCMS) website, but, of course, you cannot lodge them electronically there or anywhere else!

Licensing reform is not likely to loom large on the parliamentary agenda at the moment and it would be foolish to think otherwise. However, the financial constraints on local government will not help either.

Several authorities are in the process of amalgamating their licensing activities in larger groupings — Worcestershire is a recent example where no less than six departments have merged — and while this is claimed to improve efficiency it is difficult to see how it will help the trade or make life any easier.

There is also no suggestion that this merger will lead to an immediate move to electronic applications, for example, for such straightforward matters as temporary event notices or minor variations.

Enforcement​

The one area that might be affected by budget controls is enforcement, although clearly there is a dual role here, with the police able to take action directly against pubs rather than the licensing authority itself.

Also, environmental health departments in more areas are beginning to take an interest in licensing issues, perhaps spurred on by the idea that the promotion of public health should be a licensing objective, as it is in Scotland.

However, according to Home Secretary Theresa May, the new Government is committed to licensing reform in some way, following a comprehensive review of the workings of the Licensing Act.

Many commentators are hard pressed to think of ways the law could be strengthened, but many of us can think of areas where it could be made more user-friendly and consistent. Clearing up the forms and the application procedures are just two of them at present, but there are several more.

There is no doubt there are further tough times ahead for the trade, if there is a general belt-tightening by both Government and customers. Anything that will help take the regulatory burden down a little is to be welcomed.

But with my usual degree of cynicism, I think it most unlikely we shall see that burden lifted much in the immediate future.