LETTERS

Brush up on law to stop alcohol sales confusion

I thought I would share a story with you in order to provide Morning Advertiser readers with some useful advice.

As most people have 'grandfathered' the right to a personal licence, they may not be fully aware of what the Licensing Act 2003 states.

I recently received a call from a client regarding the supply of alcohol at a Christmas market. I advised him that, as the event would be happening in under 10 working days, he would not be able to sell alcohol as a temporary event notice could not be served in time. He then went on to say that a person he knew had said that, as he has a personal licence that permitted him to sell or authorise the sale of alcohol, that he would be able to sell it.

I stated that a personal licence only permitted the sale or authorisation of alcohol in accordance with a valid premises licence - this permitts the sale of alcohol and, if he checked the paper part of his personal licence, it would have wording to that effect.

I wonder how many other personal licence holders there are in England and Wales who know that they need a premises licence to be able to sell alcohol? And I wonder how many there are who think that, if they are at an outside function, they need to do nothing else.

I also wonder if they know the maximum penalty is either a £20,000 fine and/or a six-month jail term and possible loss of their personal licence.

Michael Kheng FBII

Kurnia Licensing Consultants

Spanish City

High Street

Mablethorpe

Lincolnshire

'Lazy' local authority jibe could court controversy

I write in response to Peter Coulson's article entitled 'Thousands of licence bids left in limbo', (MA, 8 December 2005, p3).

I wonder whether he is being serious or just trying to be controversial when he criticises local authorities for not dealing with applications relating to variations and accuses local authorities of being 'simply too lazy and inefficient to do their job'.

If he is serious then the accusations are wholly inaccurate and his article is neither constructive nor factually correct. Despite efforts to encourage applications more than 90% were not received until about a week before 6 August 2005. By the end of the transition period on 24 November 2005, all but a few applications had been processed. At worst that amounted to 10% and in authorities like mine at Brighton and Hove City Council, none. So, where is Peter's evidence for thousands of licence bids left in limbo?

While councillors have been sitting day after day on panels and through the August holiday period, each licensing hearing can take more than an hour as residents and solicitors make their cases. This level of effort and dedication has continued beyond 24 November 2005 as authorities are now faced with applications for temporary events and variations.

Licensing minister James Purnell MP, speaking at the recent LACORS and MJ Licensing Confer-ence commended local authorities for all their hard work and went on to say: 'Local authorities are best placed to run their licensing regimes and it's absolutely right we have transferred the powers to them'.

Councillor Geoffrey Theobald OBE

Chairman of LACORS

Peter Coulson writes: Councillor Theobald may not be as close to the back bar as I am. At the be- ginning of December there were indeed thousands of missing licence documents, reported from many parts of the country. I spoke to a number of licen-sing solicitors and operating companies. All reported considerable shortfalls - one major company had received only 35% of its licences at that time. One London justices clerk was sitting on 175 licence appeals from the local authority, the majority of which were non-processed variations. I said in the article that I was happy to give LACORS chapter and verse, and I am still willing to do so. Incidentally, there are still thousands of licence documents outstanding, even today.

Cool sales boost for ale at the right temperature

I was interested but not surprised to hear of Barry Bremner's experiences of warm beer (MA, 15 December 2005, p10). From our inspections at Cask Marque, we have found that 51% of pints are outside the brewers' specification of 11º-13ºC.

To give customers a refreshing pint, particularly in the summer, publicans need to have beer cooled from cellar to bar by an ale python so that beer is dispensed at cellar temperature. Licensees should demand this equipment from their brewers. Some pub groups and most regional brewers have adopted this equipment as standard so don't be fobbed off.

Once the equipment is installed you need to check on a regular basis the beer temperature in the glass. To achieve this, use a thermometer that you have in your kitchen.

Serving beer at the correct temperature can increase sales by 3%. Make it your New Year's resolution.

Paul Nunny

Cask Marque Trust

B9 Seedbed Centre

Severalls Business Park

Colchester

'Fashionable few' shun Carlsberg UK's ale effort

In an era of constant change in the brewing industry, it is reassuring to see that the capacity of the national brewers for misinformation remains entirely undiminished.

In 'My Shout', a largely enjoyable piece by Doug Clydesdale, (MA, 15 December 2005, p6), the managing director of Carlsberg UK concludes: 'I have lost count of the many articles talking about national brewers all turning their backs on the ale market and that it was only the regional brewers supporting the category.' He suggests that the millions invested by Tetley's and John Smith's isn't reported as it 'isn't a fashionable story for the ale experts'.

Well, up to a point m'lud. It is of course the cask-ale market that is being in turn ignored by the likes of Mr Clydesdale's company and supported by the regionals and that, I think, is a fashionable story.

John Clarke

45 Bulkeley St

Edgeley

Stockport

Cheshire