HMG publish the fee regime for reform with a substantial hike from those previously indicated.

Note the multiplier to be applied to “town/city centre premises” – “Town/city centre” is not defined in the regulations but appears to be determined by whether the premises fall within Band D (multiplier of 2) or Band E (multiplier of 3). Presumably the assumption is that the NDRV will catch the relevant premises but will catch those premises wherever they are!

Operators of premises with a Special Hours Certificate may be interested in a possible argument that as these multipliers only apply to premises “exclusively or primarily used for the supply of liquor”, as under the present regime that supply of liquor, as a matter of law, has to be ancillary to the provision of music and dancing and/or substantial refreshment (and therefore fail the primacy test), they may be exempt from the additional levy – not, we am sure, what was intended!

Please also note that an application for variation of hours for alcohol during transition will now also attract an additional fee.

The annual fee is to be payable on the anniversary of the grant of the premises licence, rather than it would appear a more convenient common date for all licences.

Licensing Act 2003 Fee Levels Regulations – taken from the DCMS website – Download

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