Reforms are just window dressing

18-Oct-2011 - Last updated on 12-Mar-2017 at 00:06 GMT

Consultation due: Respond now, says Peter Coulson

Nothing changes much in Government. I well remember the Labour administration producing a long list of the ‘reforms’ that they intended to bring to licensing, most of which were already under discussion when they started the exercise, and several of which were not implemented.

Now, the coalition Red Tape Challenge, in its response on the hospitality industry, has regurgitated three of them and claimed that this is a fresh response to perceived problems. It is very disappointing, but inevitable.

The re-design of the licensing forms has been on the table virtually since the beginning. You may remember that the forms were so bad they were withdrawn and re-issued on the Friday before transition. It is simply wasteful to send up to eight 20-page forms with only a couple of pages that need to be filled in, even if you can now do it online (which most people don’t).

The temporary event notice situation is like a yo-yo: the Home Office originally wanted to make it tougher for licensees, but then back-tracked and produced a relaxation in the Police Reform & Social Responsibility Bill — way before the Red Tape Challenge was even announced. You cannot claim that this reform is a response to the public consultation.

The other two claimed licensing reforms do not even affect the licensed trade. Late-night refreshment deregulation is only for non-alcohol premises and the minimal supply of alcohol in B&Bs is a ‘de minimis’ exercise for welcome packs. The relaxation on no-smoking signage comes on the back of almost total compliance and is hardly a ground-breaking licensing reform.

In reality, the pub business is still left with a raft of regulation and compliance issues that are only bound to get worse once the real new laws on curfews and the late-night levy kick in next year, together with new ‘appropriate’ conditions on licences.

This is window-dressing politics, and I said so at the time. The only real deregulation measure will be the freeing up of regulated entertainment, which is currently under consultation, if it means that live music and other pub activities can be run without onerous requirements or new conditions. However, I am such an old cynic that I will believe the reality when I see it spelled out in an amendment Bill, and not before.

Nevertheless, that consultation is well worth responding to before the December deadline, so that the advantages to the pub trade can be spelled out.

Don’t despair — get writing!