Tread carefully withinthis licence minefield

I am pleased to note that, in accordance with what I predicted last week, there has not been an IKEA-style rush to be first in line for a premises licence conversion.

People are understandably wary, particularly as, at the very last minute, the Department for Culture Media & Sport, without any form of announcement, changed the forms for variation in a "material" way.

The result of that change is that certain parts of the variation form are now mandatory (which in plain English means that you must fill them in). This is in direct contrast to the other parts, where you leave them blank.

In particular, you are asked to "highlight" (their word) any adult entertainment or matters ancillary to the use of the premises that may give rise to concern in respect of children. These include, according to the brief guidance notes, nudity or semi-nudity and the presence of gambling machines.

This latter inclusion will, of course, engage the attention of most pubs which currently have, quite legally, AWP machines either in the bar or in other rooms. What I find most difficult to understand is why, if such machines are currently allowed in the vast majority of pubs without giving concern about children, you should give hostages to fortune by "confessing" that they are present on your premises.

This is but one example of the manner in which this 20-page application form, particularly the variation section, provides one of the most potent traps for the unwary that I have seen in a long time.

I should like to quote from guidance prepared by one enlightened local authority that tells the true story:

"Whatever you write in an application box to show your intention' will be turned automatically into a legally binding condition. Any of these conditions could form the basis for legal action against you in the future, possibly resulting in the loss of your licence. You must think very carefully before volunteering to be bound by any such condition..."

It is already the case that where an application is made for a new licence, the police come up with a whole set of suggested conditions, often at the last moment, most of them aimed, it seems to me, at strangling the licence at birth. The same appears to be possible on conversion, only in this case it is the licensee probably strangling himself.

As the above guidance points out, this application form is NOT a survey. You are being invited to write your own rules and will then be bound by them.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the re-lettered section Q (if you haven't got a Q on your form, then it's the wrong one.) This is the section where you have to write in five separate boxes the steps you intend to take in order to promote the licensing objectives. Again, this is a compulsory section ­ you "fail" if you do not write in this section and the application is invalid.

What you write in this section will be turned into conditions. You should not use it to give pledges, like politicians. You should understand that what you write here will be binding on you. So if you undertake to have "constant supervision" of the AWP machines or the entrance to the premises and you breach that, you are committing an offence.

All this means that you MUST take some advice before writing in any of these boxes, and in the sections covering hours of sale and, in particular, hours of opening. Currently, you have no restrictions on when you can open. Suddenly, this, too, is to be controlled if you allow it. Another condition, another offence. Tread carefully, my friends!