Licensing Act Consultation “Overwhelmingly Positive” says Sector Leaders

The government has launched a consultation to consider making permanent the alcohol licensing provisions in the Business and Planning Act 2020 or whether to return to the provisions in the Licensing Act 2003

The Licensing Act 2003 allows premises licence holders to sell alcohol for consumption on-site or for consumption off-site or both however in response to the pandemic , the Business and Planning Act 2020 provided regulator y easements which enabled holders of licences that only allow sales for consumption on-site to automatically additionally do sales for consumption off-site , without any need to amend their licence

The Licensing Act 2003 also allows licensable activities to be carried out on a one-off basis without the need for a premises licence or any other authorisation, by means of a temporar y event notice

UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said: “The proposals from the Home Office to make permanent a number of temporar y measures introduced during the pandemic are overwhelmingly positive and we strongly urge the Government to do so

“Extending on-sale licences to automatically include off-sales and expanding the Temporar y Events Notices allowance are both measures UKHospitality has been asking the Government to make permanent and will allow venues to continue reaping the benefit from these expanded trading oppor tunities

“Taking advantage of these simple practical changes shows that the Government understands the pressures the sector is under and, as with the extension to licensing hours for the King s Coronation, wants to give operators the oppor tunity to boost revenue wherever possible

Reducing the burden of excessive and costly red tape is a priority for UKHospitality and I hope these proposals mark only the star t of that process

The sector hopes to continue to work with Government on eliminating other unnecessar y and prohibitive regulations, such as mandator y newspaper advertising for licence applications and the late-night levy ”

The consultation, which can be viewed here , will run for 8 weeks and is aimed at the hospitality sector, local licensing authorities, the police , licensed premises, members of the public and other interested par ties in England and Wales where these proposals apply