In the current climate it is not easy to recommend that you pick up the phone to your local police. But there is one example where it may be an absolute necessity.
Once again I have had a request from a pub licensee who wants to know what his rights and obligations are over someone who gets drunk.
Of course, he knows he must refuse to serve him any more, but what if the person stays and starts shouting at the licensee and other customers?
If you then have to call the police to get the person out of the pub, can you then be charged with permitting drunkenness? He has heard that this is an offence under the new Licensing Act.
There is, actually, no offence of permitting drunkenness, but there is of allowing disorderly conduct on the licensed premises, and the police would be entitled to take action if they found such a state of affairs.
However, this does not mean that summoning police assistance for any incident on the premises will automatically rebound on the licence-holder. It has to be said that in most areas the police are aware of the sensitive nature of this point and have in the past sought to give assurances to certain licensees. Not everywhere, it must be said, but in most parts.
The Licensing Act creates both an obligation and a right for the licensee. He is not to serve drunks or allow disorderly conduct, but he is also entitled to "request" police assistance.
This second point is enshrined in the Act — it is not just an ordinary right that all citizens have. The police, under the terms of the Act, are obliged to render immediate assistance to a licensee who finds people unwilling or unable to quit his premises, to help to expel people who are drunk or disorderly, and also help to prevent such a person from entering the premises again.
Because of this wording, it is clear that the summoning of police assistance at the time when the licensee perceives an offence is likely to be committed means he is not "permitting" it to continue and could not be charged under section 140.
It has to be said that persistent occurrence of disorderly conduct on the same premises, even if police assistance was regularly summoned, could rebound on the licensee, if the police felt that he was not exercising proper control over the premises, or his customers. But in the normal course of events, a summons for police assistance means just that, and hopefully an end to the incident.
Q&A
Notice for free tap water
Q. I was interested to read your article last week about tap water. Is it a requirement to put up a notice in the bar advising customers that there is free tap water available? I have read somewhere that this is now a requirement, but I cannot find details.
A. It is not a legal requirement, but it has been reported that one police force was in the early stages of suggesting this to licensees. I can see no justification for this, because the supply of water is merely expressed as an obligation in the Order that brought in the mandatory conditions.
For some years in the nightclub industry, the provision of free drinking water has been promoted, as part of the "wind down" conditions at the end of the evening. It may be that some clubs did advertise the facility, but this would normally have been a volunteered condition.
The new mandatory conditions are not required to be inserted into every printed copy of the premises licence, so they will have to be remembered by licensees and staff. It might be a good idea to remind staff on a regular basis of the existence of the conditions and perhaps keep a copy of them in a safe place for reference purposes.
Price lists now
Q. What is the position on the display of price lists in pubs? Must the price of every drink be shown and must the list be updated on a daily basis, as we have been told?
A. It used to be a legal requirement, but the law on this was radically changed two years ago. This resulted in the repeal of the Price Marking (Food and Drink Services) Order, which specifically covered price lists and their display in considerable detail.
Thanks to a European directives, what has taken its place is a general obligation on traders to give sufficient information to customers at the point of sale, so that they are not misled on prices. This is far less specific than before, so, for example trading standards cannot invoke any legislation saying exactly where the price list should be. They can, however, suggest that you are not giving enough information or it is not prominent enough in the bar.
It is not clear how many parts of the trade itself have caught up with the change in regulations. Often it takes longer than two years, so it may well be that many organisations are still complying with the old regulations on price lists. There is no harm in this, of course, but it simply means that failure to comply with a complete price list will no longer be an offence liable to prosecution.
Credit for drink only
Q. Can you remind me whether it is true that credit cards are only acceptable for food and drink combined and not drinks over the bar? We have just moved to portable card readers throughout the premises, which is a dry-led outlet, though we do have drinks-only customers on a regular basis.
A. As long as the normal precautions are maintained, it is perfectly legal to accept credit-card payments for rounds of drinks over the bar. Whether or not credit cards contravened the previous licensing laws — and I never thought they did, being clearly established as an on-the-spot payment for goods or services — the rules on credit were entirely removed under the new Licensing Act.
This means that any form of payment, even if delayed, is now acceptable. The risk of giving credit is now entirely with you, but, of course, the use of plastic is now so universal that it is just one of the normal risks of trade.
As far as card readers are concerned, these can be used by all barstaff, whether for food or drink sales. You may also set a minimum level of spend, if you like.