Not what was planned

Although there are a number of reasons why so few applications have been made for conversion to premises licences, one of the major factors must be the requirement for brand new plans.

Not just any old plans. Detailed ones. Even the existing plans lodged with the justices (which many applicants keep a copy of) will not do. This is a completely new requirement, based on new rules.

This was not something that the licensed trade either contemplated or raised during the discussions on "grandfather rights". This is another example of the "Devil in the Detail" scenario which many of us feared. And it costs.

Drawing up a brand new set of accurate plans for licensed premises will cost some people hundreds of pounds ­ probably more than the transition application fee itself. This has not been built into the Government's costings, but for the most part it is unavoidable. It is not an easy do-it-yourself option.

Many pubs have to start from scratch, because they do not in fact have any plans at all. Those tenants from some of the long-standing family and regional brewers are in premises whose origins go back for hundreds of years. They never had to produce plans, unless they were making a major alteration of some kind and needed consent from the justices. So there are pubs which have simply continued to operate in traditional premises and rarely, if ever, have been troubled by the justices.

All this has now changed. They, or their operating company, must draw up detailed plans, usually on a scale of 1:100, containing several new items of information, mostly to do with fire risks. You may ask me what fire risks have to do with licensing, and I will respond that premises with regular multiple public access ought to be safe, and safety is a very important aspect of public entertainment licensing, which is part of the new "compound" licence.

The plans are, therefore, required to show additional items which have never been asked for by the justices. Their main consideration was the layout of the premises, showing where sale and consumption of alcohol take place. If you wanted to change that, you had to gain prior permission. Tech-nically, until the Second Appointed Day, you still do.

Under the new system, it is necessary to show not only the skeleton of the building (the floor plan), but also fixed furnishings which might affect access or egress from the premises, fire-fighting equipment, fire escapes, raised areas including stages, together with lifts, steps and stairways where relevant.

So there is a great deal more detail to be shown, and the danger, I suppose, is that if you get it wrong and the plan is inadequate, the application will be sent back to you for revision. In fact, this has already happened, even with very few applications processed so far.

So it is not surprising that, faced with more than half a page of closely-written instructions, applicants are taking time to produce adequate plans. There is a great deal of fear that they will not get it right. So they are sitting tight in their burrows.

One way that licensing officers might coax them out is to show that they are not quite as foxy as they are painted ­ several to whom I have spoken have a fairly-relaxed attitude towards plans, particularly where the regulations create a fairly unworkable scenario (do you have to show all 15 storeys of a major hotel in detail?). So it might be a good idea to ring them up and discuss the plans and what is required.

Who knows: they have had so few applications that they might welcome your call with open arms, and even give you some helpful hints as well!