The 'Red Tape Challenge' - say goodbye to liqueur licences

The concern is that the Licensing Act 2003 requires premises to obtain a relevant licence before selling liqueurs due to their alcoholic content. In fact, the Act actually exempts liqueur confectionery as being classed as alcohol, with liqueur confectionery being defined as confectionary which:

“Contains alcohol in a proportion not greater than 0.2 litres of alcohol (of a strength not exceeding 57%) per kilogram of the confectionary and either consists of separate pieces weighing not more than 42g or is designed to be broken into such pieces for the purposes of consumption." (s191(2) LA 2003)

In reality, therefore, this proposal is unlikely to have a big impact as few businesses will be selling confectionary that is sufficiently alcoholic in nature and therefore do not need a licence anyway. However, with much of the red tape proposals, every little helps.

The attempt to deregulate ‘liqueur licences’ will first need to pass through consultation but it has been reported that ministers are confident that it will occur. The Business Minister, Mark Prisk, said:

“The idea that we have to protect younger people from liqueur chocolates in this country is one that has to be got rid of."

By implication, this also means that the proposals will have to address the offence created by the Licensing Act of selling liqueur confectionery to children under 16 (s148), regardless of whether the seller has a licence or not. It is not clear whether the age restriction will be lowered or removed.

Of more practical interest to the Licensed Industry is that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is looking to approve standard ID requirements for purchasing alcohol (as well as cigarettes), whereby the only acceptable proof of age will be a passport, a driver's licence or Government approved proof-of-age card.

However, this does not really seem to overly build on the mandatory condition added to all Premises Licences last year requiring all premises selling alcohol to introduce an age verification policy requesting ID from those appearing under age that bears “their photograph, date of birth and a holographic mark”.

As ever, we will keep an eye on all developments and let you know if anything interesting arises.

Should you wish to participate in the red tape challenge in the meantime then more details can be found on the Government’s dedicated website