Essentially, an EMRO will give licensing authorities the power to prevent the sale of alcohol from any time between midnight and 6am on any or all days of the week. It imposes an indiscriminate terminal hour across the whole or any part of the licensing authority’s area.
The licensing equivalent of dragnet fishing, responsible and irresponsible retailers alike will be caught up in its net.
Pleasingly, it seems that a number of the local authorities that have considered implementing an EMRO are having second thoughts. Blackpool Council has delayed the consultation on its own 3am curfew plans after listening to the concerns of licensees and understanding the negative impact it could have on local businesses and employment — even among those who don’t open that late.
At a time when so many businesses are struggling, can it really be wise to impose any sort of additional constraint on them and their customers?
And — since no-one has so far actually implemented an EMRO — one has to consider the unknown consequences of such a restriction, including: potential displacement to other areas of the very problems the EMRO is intended to mitigate; and the dispersal of large numbers of drinkers from a small area at the same time. The possibility of a rise in at-home drinking, away from the supervised environment of licensed premises, is another very real danger.
For councillors in Blackpool — a town whose reputation is largely built on the success of its nightlife — to have even been considering an EMRO should sound warning bells to operators trading in places where the late-night scene is not so central to the local economy.
Indeed, for any licensing authority to get to the stage of even consulting on an EMRO, it must feel it has exhausted all other options. In reality, maybe it has just failed properly to explore those alternatives.
The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, which has been leading the charge against EMROs with the creation of a fighting fund to campaign against their introduction, and which has been particularly active in fighting the Blackpool EMRO, is certainly urging local authorities to seek ideas from operators.
Schemes such as Pubwatch, Best Bar None and business improvement districts must all be given a chance to work before anyone presses the ‘nuclear button’.
The good news is that an EMRO shouldn’t be able to sneak up on you. The proposal to introduce an EMRO has to be advertised by the licensing authority on its website, in the area where it is planned, and in a local paper. If you spot such a notice, make your voice heard: talk to competitors, contact your trade body and seek professional advice. Blackpool listened — hopefully others will too.
All eyes will be on the EMRO ‘pioneers’, which is why Blackpool’s decision to pause is to be welcomed. Now we await the result of Hartlepool’s recent consultation. The pub and bar trade can only hope that the legislators of a town that once hanged a monkey for fear that it was a French spy show more wisdom with their EMRO judgement.