Awful press release says PM to "look again" at licensing laws

The PMs widely reported remarks about binge/underage drinking have today been released in the form of a press release. It's rubbish and yes, I could do better. I'm in a mood having done something very nasty to my big toenail (and carpet as a result) so I'm going to vent some irritation.

Two lines stand out:

Shops that sell alcohol to those who are under age face having their licences taken away, the Prime Minister announced today.

and

the PM announced plans to "look again" at licencing (sic) laws that allow 24-hour opening hours for some pubs and clubs.

Now forgive me for mounting my pedantic hobby horse here, but if I don't point out what's wrong here then who will?

1. The first quote. Am I missing something? Is this new? From what I can tell plenty of councils are getting into the swing of prosecutions quite nicely. If you get the licensing-related stories from Google News every day (yes, I do - I'm a geek) then you'll see local papers regularly reporting on licences being forfeited. What do the hard-working council licensing officers think about this comment - glad of the support or hacked off at being told to get off their backsides and take some scalps?

2. What have opening hours got to do with it? Most pubs and clubs, certainly those with Premises Licences converted
from the old regime, are permitted to open 24 hours a day. That's not
what they mean here though is it? Hours for opening and providing licensable activities are not
one and the same.

3. Exactly how many pubs and clubs are open, let alone serving alcohol, 24 hours a day? Hmm? I can't name my nearest one and it's the sort of thing I make it my business (as opposed to pleasure) to know.

4. There's a typo - it's licensing, not licencing. I know that and so does my spellchecker.

Would it be so hard to find someone working in the government to check over what's being released? There must be someone there who understands licensing law. Feel free to insert your own snide comment.

Anyway, so far so uninformative from me. What does Mr Brown mean by 'looking again' at the Licensing Act? Bearing in mind that the Act was brought in at huge expense and disruption to a large number of industries what are they going to do? Of course there's the review taking place at the moment, due by the end of the year. Maybe he's warming people up for the changes to be suggested then.

The thing is, that report's expected to contain mainly technical changes such as improving the application forms, setting a single date for annual fees and altering the application advertisement requirements. In other words nothing that would be noticed very much by the public at large. However, some legislative changes will be required so maybe it'd be a chance to slip in some other measures.

It's hard to see what those measures could be though. Mr Brown's comments seemed to imply toughening enforcement but the current measures are pretty extensive. So as far as licensing is concerned the bit about not hesitating to change policy if it's 'in the interests of the country' just doesn't seem very likely from where I'm sitting.

In fact to my ears it sounds like a case of 'Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing'. Still it makes for a strongly worded press release doesn't it?

Technorati Tags: licensing, gordon brown, binge drinking, underage drinking

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Many a true word spoken in jest

There's not a lot happening in licensing news at the moment. If it carries on like this then I'm going to have to post up one of my many rants on the LA03, I'll just pick an infuriating grey area at random.

For the time being the Morning Advertiser has picked up on some excellent comments by Nick Palmer, the Labour MP for Broxtoe (that's Nottingham-ish) which I thought I'd bring up, mainly because it made me laugh (in a geeky, licensing insider way). Essentially, Mr Palmer floated an idea in his recent newsletter (here) of introducing a 'drinking licence' for 18-21 year olds that could be taken away if the holder was "cautioned or convicted or given an ASBO".

The best bit is the comment that "it would explicitly target problem drinkers while leaving others to enjoy a drink without government interference" (my gleeful emphasis).

The MA article says that residents have since pointed out the obvious flaws and 'the MP has since chosen to shelve plans for drinking licences'. Which is a shame, they should've egged him on a bit to see how far he'd have taken the idea. I mean really, what on earth was he thinking? Free publicity I suppose. From someone with a regulatory reform remit it's a bit worrying.

The reason this made me chuckle was that around the time of the transition period (mid-2005) there was a joke email going round with what was apparently a consultation document on the next stage of government licensing policy. The idea was that everyone in England and Wales would have to apply for their own 'drinking licence'. Oh, how we laughed...

Incidentally if anyone reading this has a copy of that email could you send it over? Ta.

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Gambling news (yawn) and something about qualifications

It's been a little while since the last post but that's only because nothing newsworthy has been going on in the licensing world. The soap opera concerning the Premises Licence review at Jane Seymour's pad has been gleefully reported in some quarters but I'm declaring myself above that.

Instead, as of midnight tonight, children and vulnerable people will be better protected, crime will be cut and games will be kept fair. Praise be to the Gambling Act 2005! Rejoice! Etc!

Now, I don't want to cover gambling too much on this blog because, quite frankly, it doesn't interest me. I don't like the thought of having to learn about a new Act to see what's changed but I suppose I'll get around to it when it suits. That's fine for me, but pity the poor beleaguered local authorities - the Act will be

empowering more than 1500 licensing officers (alongside 50 specialist Gambling Commission compliance officers) to inspect gambling premises to enforce the new laws.

Which for those authorities still struggling to issue Premises Licences almost two years on (naming no names, I'm not that heartless) is surely not good news for any of the parties concerned.

There's more information on this momentous event via a DCMS Press Release and a barely more informative Media Fact Pack.

In other, more interesting, news - a comment piece in the Guardian's Education section has come to my attention. I've never really considered the meaning of the name given to every Personal Licence holder's favourite qualification but this journalist has.

As you'll know it's called the Level 2 National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders. Well, it seems that a 'Level 2' qualification is meant to be equivalent to a GCSE at grade A*-C. Seeing as how one of the government's policies is to get everyone qualified to this 'Level 2' the journalist queries whether this really is an equivalent qualification and

If it is, my advice to the government is to dump the demanding GCSE, with the endless study it involves, and put everyone in for the level 2 national certificate for personal licence holders. At a stroke - well, it would need a few days - the government will have achieved quite a large part of its aim to get everyone qualified to level 2. Our skills profile will have improved internationally and we'll have a substantial pool of skilled people to call on to help sell alcohol.

He's got a point y'know.

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