City of London introduces code of practice for pubs and bars

The code is aimed at reducing problems from licensed premises and ensuring that the night time economy balances with the rights of local residents and workers.

It outlines what the City Corporation, as a licensing authority, expects in practical terms from alcohol providers and sets out what the City sees as good practice.

The code of good practice will be used when the City Corporation offers advice to licence applicants and when licensing objectives have not been adequately addressed by existing licensees who may be encountering problems.

 The aim is to avoid the need for enforcement action such as prosecution or review, but it will not replace enforcement action where it is necessary.

The City of London is introducing a ‘traffic light risk assessment scheme’ to run alongside the code of good practice.  The scheme provides a monitoring tool which will flag up problematic premises at an early stage.

The system will be based on a points classification where penalty points will be marked against premises for each relevant incident that occurs there. 

Premises will fall into a green, amber or red zone based on their total penalty points at a given time.

Edward Lord, chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Licensing Committee, which runs the scheme, said: “These programmes will help to reduce alcohol related crime and disorder in the City, particularly at night."

The moves comes as the City is begins consultation on proposals for a late-night levy.