Pubs suffer 'huge inflationary creep'

Community pubs are facing a "huge inflationary creep" in the cost of abiding by government regulations.

That is the view of the

British Beer & Pub Associa-tion director Martin Rawlings, speaking at the final session of the Community Pubs Inquiry at Westminster.

Rawlings pointed to recent and future cost increases that are hitting pubs hard.

These include the cost of gaming machines increasing from £32 to £150 and the cost of appealing a licensing decision rising from £25 to £400.

This is in addition to impending legislation such as alcohol disorder zones and the increasing cost of Security Industry Authority licences.

He told MPs: "There's a huge inflationary creep going across here."

Rawlings questioned the need for so many steep charges for licensees. He argued that the cost of licensing should be covered in fees but the cost of enforcement should be paid out of public funds because it is in the interest of public protection.

Rawlings also hit out at "legislation creep" and criticised the Department for Culture, Media & Sport for not acting on its simplification plan to streamline licensing, which was published last year.

Rawlings said: "We don't want any more legislation. We don't need it.

"I've come forward so many times saying can you deregulate this. It never happens. Can we at least stop now and think about what we are doing. We've got pile on pile of legislation to deal with."

The conduct of some local authorities was also criticised for putting a strain on licensees. Rawlings pointed to the unreasonable approach of Westminster, which operates a "core hours" policy of restricted opening hours, and Doncaster, which insists on written authority from the designated premises supervisor for all sales of alcohol.

bii: training must be funded

Cathie Smith, director of the BII's (British Institute of Innkeeping) awarding body BIIAB, called for more government funding for training courses in the licensed trade.

She said BII courses for licensees are too short to qualify for funding from the Learning & Skills Council. "Everything the industry does is at full cost," added Smith.

Greg Mullholland, Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, said: "It's time to look at the issue."