by John Harrington
The new Security Industry Authority (SIA) doorstaff licensing scheme will put further strain on local government spending because councils will lose the funding for their inspection work.
That is the view of Audrey Lewis, council member for licensing and community protection at Westminster City Council. Lewis fears that the cut in revenue from door supervisors will prove to be another financial burden for the council, which already predicts it will struggle to meet the costs of the new licensing laws.
The new doorstaff licensing scheme, which is being rolled out across England and Wales and goes live in London on 11 April 2005, will see the SIA take control of issuing licences to door supervisors.
The duty of inspecting and prosecuting unlicensed or badly-behaved doorstaff will remain with councils. But the council will no longer receive the income from doorstaff licences.
Lewis said she did not know how much it would cost the council, but they would lose the income of £25 per doorman. This pays for the transfer of licence from borough to borough doorstaff in Westminster often live outside the borough.
"If things do go wrong and occasionally we do have disciplinary hearings sometimes we have to prosecute. We are not being paid in any way to do this in the future because we have no ability to charge licence fees," said Lewis.
"We will be doing everything we did before but not having the income. Added to the inadequate fees for licensed premises, it's all a big burden.
"The task for the local authorities in having a well-regulated entertainment industry is growing, but our income is going down. There is no other place to get that than from the council taxpayer."
SIA spokesman Robert Buxton said the new licensing regime will be better for the door supervisors as they will only need one licence to work anywhere in England and Wales.
"We believe the new national system will make it easier for local authorities and police to administer [door supervisors].
"It will be easier for the door supervisors and better for the public. The reason we are issuing national licences is to raise standards of safety."