BII launches campaign to voice licensees' concerns over licensing
Licensees need to ensure their views are fully represented to local authorities when the new Licensing Bill is passed in July.
Many still fear that when licensing control moves to local authority control, licensees will face with increased bureaucracy, red tape and decisions will give undue influence to residents views.
The concerns have prompted the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII)to launch a co-ordinated campaign to ensure that the trade's views are fully represented in every local authority.
BII chief executive John McNamara has invited Licensed Victuallers Association's and other trade bodies from around the country to a meeting this week (June 10) to ensure that the hundreds of trade representatives are in place to fight for publicans.
Among those invited to take part are the Federation of Licensed Victuallers' Associations (FLVA), the Guild of Master Victuallers, and the LVA National Parliamentary Committee.
Each of the 410 local authorities in England and Wales taking over responsibility for licensing has to draw up its own local policy. While each will be based on guidance from Parliament, there will also be scope to address local issues.
With local authorities having a statutory duty to consult with the trade, the BII wants to make sure there is a licensee representative on every policy group.
BII corporate communication manager Caroline Nodder said: "While we welcome the involvement of pub companies, we think it's important that the grass roots of the trade, the licensees, are fully involved.
"We can't afford to leave something as important as this to chance. We have a network of active licensees, and other trade organisations have good representation in certain areas. By working together we can co-ordinate our approach to make sure that every local authority area is covered."
Tony Payne, chief executive of the FLVA, said: "We've already written to all our members asking them to get involved in drawing up their local policy, and we'll be holding meetings to go through exactly what's involved."
