Fury over ADZs as last-minute changes continue
Trade leaders have renewed their demands to see Alcohol Disorder Zones scrapped before they ever see the light of day after further changes were made to the regulations.
A Home Office spokeswoman told The Publican it was now "hard to say either way" whether the measures, which will see pubs in designated areas asked to pay an extra tax towards the cost of policing them, would be in place this month.
In the latest version of the regulations, relaid in Parliament on January 8, pubs in an ADZ will now only be offered a discount of "up to 90 per cent" if they are part of an accreditation or award scheme aimed at reducing alcohol-related issues.
In the previous draft, pubs were being offered a 100 per cent discount if a member of Best Bar None or other "similar recognised accreditation schemes".
Supermarkets and convenience stores will still avoid paying the charges, which could be up to £100 per week, because the regulations exclude premises where alcohol is "not the main reason, or one of the main reasons why individuals enter or remain on the premises".
Other changes include the scrapping of an appeal process if a premises refuses to pay the charges.
Nick Bish, chief executive of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR), said the group would continue to lobby MPs over the fact that supermarkets and off-licences would be exempt. He also attacked the guidelines to ADZs, which justify their introduction. "They are completely out-of-date and a knee-jerk reaction to Daily Mail headlines," he said. "The government should face facts and abandon the plans."
Martin Rawlings, director of pub and leisure at the BBPA, said: "This is still a very poor piece of legislation and the regulations do not improve them, they are fundamentally flawed. Even most local authorities have said they won't use them."
Alex Salussolia, chairman of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers and managing director of Glendola Leisure, said ADZs were an "ill-conceived mechanism". "If there is a delay then it could be down to the overall lack of appetite there is for them."
The 13-page regulations will be debated in Parliament "by the end of the month", the Home Office spokeswoman added.
Who gets an ADZ?
ADZs, which are part of the Violent Crime Reduction Act, will be implemented where there is a "repeated nuisance" to the public related to alcohol.
However in the guidance to ADZs, they are referred to as a "last resort" and it calls for police to use powers instead under the Licensing Act if they are "clearly identifiable" badly run pubs and off-licences.
