The government has launched a four-week, fast-track review to ‘tear up outdated licensing rules that have been holding back pubs, bars and local events’. The aim is to boost high streets and ensure ‘fewer pointless restrictions’, it states.
The call for evidence will focus on recommendations from the government’s licensing taskforce, with particular focus on streamlining on-trade licensing for hospitality venues. The government says it wants to hear the view of licensed businesses and trade bodies, police and local authorities, public health organisations, residents’ groups and members of the public. The review ‘will help us cut through the red tape that has held back our brilliant hospitality sector, giving them the freedom to flourish while keeping communities safe’, said business secretary Peter Kyle. ‘That is the balance we’re trying to strike.’
However the move has been attacked by alcohol health campaigners, with Alcohol Change UK chief executive Dr Richard Piper calling it ‘a charter for chaos’. The ‘only growth these reforms will deliver is growth in the number of victims of crime, in A&E waiting times, and in the alcohol-related health conditions, absenteeism and presenteeism that actively undermine our national productivity’, he said.
Despite being promoted as a pro-pub initiative the proposed reforms would also make it easier for alcohol to be sold in shops and convenience stores, added Institute of Alcohol Studies chief executive Dr Katherine Severi. ‘Off-trade sales now account for 75 per cent of all alcohol sold in the UK and are a major driver of the current crisis in alcohol harm,’ she said. ‘Alcohol-specific deaths are at their highest level since records began, and alcohol continues to fuel health inequalities across the country.’
Licensing was a public protection mechanism rather than a ‘tool for economic growth’, she continued. ‘Using it to deregulate alcohol sales in the name of business growth is misguided and irresponsible, especially when those businesses are contributing to record levels of harm and placing enormous strain on our health services and communities. Easier access to alcohol in the off-trade – especially through streamlined licensing processes and reduced scrutiny – will only exacerbate harm in communities already struggling with alcohol-related violence, chronic illness, and economic disadvantage.’
Meanwhile, a report from the Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) says the government could generate £3.4bn over the next five years by increasing duty on non-draught alcohol in line with inflation and reinstating the 2 per cent annual ‘escalator’ above inflation which was abolished in 2013. ‘Freezes and cuts to duty over the past decade have given away billions to alcohol producers in tax breaks — while public services dwindle and deaths from alcohol have soared,’ said AHA chair Professor Sir Ian Gilmore. ‘Reintroducing a duty escalator on non-draught products is a proven, life-saving policy that raises revenue without harming the hospitality sector.’
Open call for evidence: Reforming the licensing system available here