License

Are good pubs the victim of over-enforcement?

Are good pubs the victim of over-enforcement?

By Jonathan Smith

A couple of weeks ago the Metropolitan police and other agencies launched the second phase of Operation Condor. This was enforcement by way of inspection of a number of licensed premises, including pubs and bars in central London.

Legal: Effects of the late-night levy on pubs

Legal: Effects of the late-night levy on pubs

I’m not sure the Government entirely trusts licensing authorities. Or perhaps it’s the lawyers that the Home Office is wary of. Either way, its recently published ‘response to consultation’ on early morning restriction orders (EMROs) and the late-night...

Better communication from local authorities would benefit pubs

Better communication from local authorities would benefit pubs

I have seen two recent news items reinforcing the need for communication in the licensing world. The actor Bob Hoskins was once famous for saying, “It’s good to talk” — a piece of advice that the enforcement officers at Spelthorne Borough Council in Surrey...

PPL music charges paid by pubs rises 10%

PPL public performance income rises 10%

By John Harrington

Music royalties collection body PPL has reported a 10% rise in public performance licence fee income, which includes charges paid by pubs, clubs and restaurants.

Calls to penalise under-18s that buy alcohol

Calls to penalise under-18s that buy alcohol

By Gurjit Degun

A licensed trade consultant has launched an e-petition calling on the Government to take action against under 18-year-olds who attempt to buy alcohol in pubs.

An absurd objective – public health and the licensee

An absurd objective – public health and the licensee

By Phil Mellows

Unless I missed something the three alcohol licence applications refused by Edinburgh Licensing Board at the end of last month are the first examples of a local authority invoking Scotland’s fifth licensing objective – the obligation on licence holders...

Levy consultation jumps the gun

Levy consultation jumps the gun

A council somewhat prematurely published its consultation document on its proposal to introduce a late-night levy. The consultation document has since been withdrawn, but is it the shape of things to come?

Annual fees and the Police Reform & Social Responsibility Act

Annual fees and the Police Reform & Social Responsibility Act

By Jonathan Smith

The change introduced by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (PRSRA) from 25 April which will affect each and every licensed premises, is the power for licensing authorities to suspend premises licences or club premises certificates for...

A year to transform the BII

A year to transform the BII

By Rob Willock

This industry needs a strong professional body now more than ever. As the tax burden increases inexorably, on-trade beer sales fall steeply, and pubs close in their hundreds with the passing of each financial year, licensees seek strength and leadership...

Closure notices: Don't ignore the warnings

Closure notices: Don't ignore the warnings

By Jonathan Smith

The recent High Court decision in favour of the Bank in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, confirmed what many licensing lawyers (including some of those acting for the police) had been saying for some time — that closure notices issued under Section 19 of the...

Licensees will be subject of more Government intervention, says Jonathan Smith

Alcohol Strategy: More intervention is nigh

By Jonathan Smith

If you thought the Police Reform & Social Responsibility Act (PRSR) was the be-all and end-all of Government intervention in licensing this year, think again.  A close reading of the recently published Alcohol Strategy (with a foreword by the PM,...

Take tax advice on staff benefits

Take tax advice on staff benefits

By Peter Coulson

Taxation is never a happy subject at the best of times, but it tends to come to the fore at Budget time. In the licensed trade the question often arises as to whether tax is chargeable on the benefits that an employee receives in addition to their wages....

Still these licence conditions linger

Still these licence conditions linger

By Peter Coulson

I have been having another look at some premises licences for out-of-town pubs recently and find it amazing that the raft of conditions contain long, direct quotes from the ‘old’ Licensing Act throughout.

Underage sales overkill concern

Underage sales overkill concern

By Peter Coulson

Other controversial changes due to come into force next month, according to the Home Office, concern sales to children. First of all the maximum fine (not the actual fine) has been doubled to £20,000 for underage sales, if they are prosecuted in the magistrates’...

Licensing act changes: Shifting responsibility

Licensing act changes: Shifting responsibility

By Peter Coulson

It came as rather a surprise to hear the Home Office confirm an April start for some of its radical changes to the Licensing Act. Many of us thought it would not be ready for this, and I still have considerable doubts.

Ex-licensee to pay PRS £9k in damages

Ex-licensee to pay PRS £9k in damages

By Gurjit Degun

A former licensee of the now-shut Remix Bar in Woking, Surrey, will have to fork out £9,000 in damages to PRS for Music for failing to have a licence to play music for two years.

Don’t leave your front line exposed

Don’t leave your front line exposed

By Michael Kheng

It is interesting that the Security Industry Authority (SIA) is visiting licensees and authorities warning of the possibility of a shortage of door supervisors during the 2012 Olympics. As reported in last week’s PMA, G4S looks set to recruit around 10,000...

Banning orders and publicity

Banning orders and publicity

By Peter Coulson

I was rather interested to read about the Cornwall nightclub owner who has installed an ID scanner so she can share information on ‘difficult’ customers with other licensees in the area.This is a subject I have dealt with regularly over many years.

Itching for licensing reform

Itching for licensing reform

By Peter Coulson

We are now seven years on from the start of that frantic period of applications for new personal and premises licences, known as ‘transition’. I am beginning to get that Seven Year Itch.

How to get rid of surplus conditions

How to get rid of surplus conditions

By Peter Coulson

Still on the subject of conditions, I continue to see premises licences with a whole string of requirements, many of which appear to have little or no relevance to the current situation of the pub concerned.

Police cutbacks spell trouble

Police cutbacks spell trouble

By Peter Coulson

Last week, a number of chief constables complained that due to the stringent cuts imposed by the present Government they were in danger of losing front-line policing.

Tangled web of licensing law

Tangled web of licensing law

By Peter Coulson

The tangled web of modern licensing law has reached a new level recently, if the consultation document on early morning restriction orders and the late-night levy is anything to go by.

Trade confronts tough times

Trade confronts tough times

By Peter Coulson

The mature readers among you will remember the Frankie Howerd comedy vehicle Up Pompeii, in which a diminutive lady would come on crying: “Woe, woe and thrice woe!”

Pendle council in DBO warning

Pendle council in DBO warning

By Adam Pescod

A local council in Lancashire has sent letters to people banned from pubs in Pubwatch schemes, warning them not to try and enter those premises over the festive period.

'Bar health check' scheme rolled out in Camden

'Bar health check' scheme rolled out in Camden

By Adam Pescod

Pubs and bars in Camden were inspected as part of a pilot ‘bar health check’ scheme by the local council and police which led to a 37% reduction in violent crime in the borough.

SIA cuts licence fees

SIA cuts licence fees

By Michelle Perrett

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is reducing its charges to individuals and businesses from next month as part of its commitment to driving down costs.

Fake IDs: Countering the counterfeit

Fake IDs: Countering the counterfeit

By Peter Coulson

I am sad to see Andrew Chevis of Citizen Card still having to bang the drum for acceptance of the Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) system to be made obligatory in some way.

Peter Coulson: 'Be wary of discrimination'

Discrimination in the trade

By Peter Coulson

Last week’s thought-provoking article by Dave Daly in The Guv’nor column was full of common sense about the long-standing issue of racial discrimination. In it, he counselled against going to the law, suggesting such matters should be kept in-house, and...

PASS could be 'pointless'

PASS could be 'pointless'

By Gurjit Degun

If the Home Office does not do more to force licensees and doorstaff to accept the Proof-of-Age Standards Scheme (PASS) accredited cards, then PASS is “pointless”.

Airing views on conditions

Airing views on conditions

By Peter Coulson

My recent article about minor variations provoked a strong reaction among readers who have suffered their own problems and knock-backs when they have tried to make a small change to their premises licence.

Spotlight

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