Back to square one for licensing reform

The campaign for licensing reform has been dealt a blow by the Government. Caroline Nodder investigates the options open to the trade

Trade leaders and licensees fear they are back to where they started in 1997. That is the feeling among campaigners for licensing reform who saw their hopes dashed by the Government's decision not to include the proposals in last month's Queen's Speech.

After building hopes of early reform, ministers dramatically shelved the proposals just days before they were due to appear in the post-election announcement.

So where does that leave the pub trade?

A number of possible options surfaced immediately after the shock announcement.

It was suggested that the bill could be taken up by an individual MP and pushed through Parliament.

There are several concerns about this, not least the fact that Private Member's Bills are allocated only a very limited amount of Parliamentary time and as such often fail to be passed in time for the end of the session.

It was also suggested by Tim Martin, chairman of pub chain JD Wetherspoon, that ministers could alter the licensing hours ahead of the rest of the reform package through a deregulation order similar to that used to relax hours at the Millennium (See Flexible hours still on agenda (21 June, 2001)for full details).

But this is also risky in terms of timing, as was seen last year when the Home Office failed to get a second order through in time for New Year.

It would also mean that the rest of the reform package, including proposals for a dual-licensing system of premises and personal licences, would remain firmly on the back-burner.

Mr Martin and his supporters, who include Kent brewer Shepherd Neame's vice chairman Stuart Neame, claim this would be a good thing. They have publicly opposed the proposals since they were first unveiled earlier this year, claiming that the plans to move licensing control to local authorities would be disastrous and lead to politically biased decisions and increased costs for the trade.

This leaves ministers and trade leaders with something of a dilemma - do they push for partial reform and sacrifice the rest of the package or do they accept there will be a delay and continue to back the reform bill?

Government insiders say it is possible for the bill to be presented to Parliament during this session even though it was not included in the Queen's Speech - although it will not be given the priority the trade had hoped for.

Following the Queen's Speech, ministers were said to be concerned by criticism in the national press, much of it encouraged by trade lobbyists, of the decision to drop licensing reform.

Tabloid newspapers accused Labour of reneging on its promise to extend opening hours in the UK's pubs, especially after the party sent out text messages to hundreds of young pub-goers in the run-up to the election promising later drinking.

If the Government had hoped the move would go all but unnoticed it was wrong, and a continued failure to act will be of some considerable personal embarrassment to the Prime Minister who has given his own public support to the proposals in the past.

Tessa Jowell, the minister with overall responsibility for licensing in its new home at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), was at pains to stress in her first public address as head of the department that the Government remained fully committed to licensing reform.

And insiders say MP Kim Howells, the junior minister placed in charge of licensing within the DCMS, is already reviewing the issue and is looking at ways of taking the bill forward.

But given the sheer volume of legislation that was included in the Queen's Speech, plus the number of new responsibilities taken on by the DCMS, it is likely to prove difficult to find the time to press ahead.

An initial meeting between the Brewers and Licensed Retailers Association (BLRA) and Dr Howells was described as "positive", and the minister is understood to be carrying out a short informal consultation with interested parties before, trade leaders hope, he announces a timetable for the reform process.

There are positive aspects of the recent developments, not least the fact that ministers have separated the Home Office's primary objective to cut crime and disorder from the issue of licensing.

In Ms Jowell's speech she referred to the licensing bill as the "Alcohol and Entertainment Bill". This indicates that it is viewed within government as a positive piece of legislation and not lumped in, as it has been in the past, with the issues of crime, disorder or public health and alcohol abuse.

Nevertheless, the move to a new department will also inevitably contribute to the delay in bringing about reform as a whole new set of civil servants and ministers, with differing views on reform, get to grips with the existing proposals.

There is also scope for the bill to be amended. There is a tendency for newly appointed officials and ministers to want to make their mark with new legislation although given the length of time it has taken to reach this stage in the reform process it is thought that the bill will not be altered to any great extent.

Andrew Cunningham, the official originally landed with the responsibility for drafting the bill, has moved with it from the Home Office to the DCMS.

He told delegates at a recent BLRA seminar on crime and disorder that he did not believe the Government would publish a licensing reform bill until after the summer of 2002 at the earliest.

He added: "The reorganisation does suggest a change of emphasis but the Government remains committed to the introduction of a reform bill as soon as Parliamentary time permits."

But with Parliamentary time increasingly scarce, it does seem that even the most enthusiastic minister will be unlikely to push reform through before the next Queen's Speech in November 2002.

The latest developments

licensing has moved to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport
proposals for licensing reform were not included in the Queen's Speech, so are not likely to be put before Parliament for at least another 18 months
Tessa Jowell has overall responsibility at the DCMS, with Kim Howells the junior minister in charge of licensing
a campaign group led by JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin has
welcomed the delay as an opportunity to bring in extended hours without the rest of the package
the Brewers and Licensed Retailers Association has said it does not want piecemeal reform and is continuing to lobby for the whole reform package
the DCMS is consulting interested parties over the next few weeks and is due to make an announcement on a timescale for reform shortly.

Back to square one for licensing reform

The campaign for licensing reform has been dealt a blow by the Government. Caroline Nodder investigates the options open to the tradeTrade leaders...

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