Licensing statistics released

These came out yesterday but unfortunately my phone and internet connection stopped working for 24 hours. Coincidence? You decide.

Anyway, there are plenty of spreadsheets to get one's teeth into here - spreadsheets - and for some other links go and check out the DCMS press release, also regurgitated by the Morning Advertiser.

I'm going to have a look through these over the weekend, but in the meantime shake your head wearily after reading some MPs desperate to get their names in the papers - here. Do their criticisms add anything to the debate? No, of course not, but that's politics for you. Perhaps they need reminding that Tory and Lib Dem councilors sit on Licensing Committees too.

These figures have all been taken from Licensing Authorities. What I'd like to see (and I don't know if it'd be possible) is some sort of comparison between the number of offences committed by these evil 24 hour drinking establishments as a percentage of the whole and how these compare to places with standard hours. My feeling is that the places licensed 24 hours are less likely to attract offences, either because of the sort of premises they are (hotels, offices, airports make up a big chunk) or because they're throttled by conditions.

Anyway, I'll have a wade through and report back on the interesting bits.

By the way, the picture is by Clint M Chilcott and is titled Cheese Bar Graph. No, it doesn't make much sense but have you tried finding an interesting photo to accompany a piece on stats?

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