House Of Lords follow up report published

The House of Lords has published its follow-up report relating to the Licensing Act 2003. This is a follow up to the original response by the Government to the original report! The latest report examines the progress made by the Government in the implementation of the recommendations made by the Select Committee on the Licensing Act 2003 in its 2017 report.

The full report can be viewed here: 'The Licensing Act 2003: post-legislative scrutiny Follow-up report'. The report extends to 43 pages so some key findings are as follows:

1. A mandatory minimum standard of councillor training needs to be established for councillors who participate in licensing committee or sub-committee proceedings to ensure consistent decisions across licensing committees.
2. The lack of progress in improving access to licensed premises for disabled people is unacceptable. The law must be amended to require that an application for a premises licence should be accompanied by a disabled access and facilities statement.
3. The future of the GOV.UK online licensing application platform must be determined and an alternative established before it is removed.

Other findings and recommendations include:

• The ‘Agent of Change’ principle, which captures the idea that those introducing a change in the use of land should manage the impact of that change, should first be adopted in the section 182 Guidance to reflect the current policy in the National Planning Policy Framework, and then be subject to review and reform. The Government should consider incorporating it into current planning reforms in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill to prevent further uncertainty.
• The Government should undertake a formal review of the impact of minimum unit pricing (MUP) across Scotland and Wales and consider the Ministerial report on the effect of MUP in Scotland to assess the benefit of implementing MUP in England. It should also review the effect of the proposed alcohol duty reforms on excessive alcohol consumption within three years of its implementation.
• The recent decision not to extend the Licensing Act airside should be reviewed within three years to ensure that disruptive incidents caused by alcohol consumption are being effectively managed by existing industry initiatives and regulation.
• The Government should proceed with its proposed review of adding records of refused, suspended and revoked personal licences to the National Register of Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles Revocations and Refusals. If this approach doesn’t work, it should reconsider the original inquiry’s recommendation to establish a national database of personal licences.

We will have to wait and see the Government's response to the report but we will keep you updated.