04.04.17
Councils hit back at ‘ill-advised’ Lords call to scrap licensing committees
Council leaders have today hit back at a House of Lords Select Committee report that described the formation of licensing committees as “a mistake”, recommending that they are taken over by planning committees instead.
In a statement, the LGA has now said that dissolving licensing committees would be an unnecessary move and cause major upheaval at a time when councils need stability.
Chair of the Lords Select Committee for the Licensing Act 2003 Baroness McIntosh of Pickering said that setting up licensing committees in the first place was a misstep by the government, and a missed opportunity when the planning system was already available to regulate the use of land for many different purposes.
“The planning system is well suited to dealing with licensing applications and appeals, and the interests of residents are always taken into account,” she said.
“The committee was shocked by some of the evidence it received on hearings before licensing committees. Their decisions have been described as 'something of a lottery', 'lacking formality', and 'indifferent', with some 'scandalous misuses of the powers of elected local councillors'.”
Baroness McIntosh also added that Britain’s pubs, clubs and live music venues formed a “vital part of our cultural identity”, arguing that “any decline in our cities’ world-famous night life ought to be prevented and the businesses supported”.
“But the night time economy needs regulating; even in these areas of cities, residents have their rights,” she said. “The current systems – Early Morning Restriction Orders and Late Night Levies – are not being used because they do not work.”
Councils respond
This was, however, a recommendation with which Cllr Chris Pillai, licensing spokesperson for the LGA, does not agree.
“The recommendation to scrap council licensing committees is unnecessary and ill-advised and does not take into account the fact that those most involved in working with the Act do not want to see further major upheaval of the system,” he argued.
“Figures from 2016 show that of the more than 21,000 licence applications made to council licensing committees, less than 1% were challenged. This reflects the fairness and sound basis licensing committees are using to make their decisions.
“It will always be possible in any system to pull out examples where things haven't worked as well as they should have, and we agree that there is scope for the planning and licensing frameworks to link together more closely.”
But at the same time, putting planning committees in charge of licensing decisions would not tackle current flaws in the Licensing Act, Pillai said, and fails to take into account of the pressures the planning system is also under.
“It is disappointing that the committee has not recommended that the Act should be amended to include a public health objective to help councils protect their communities better,” he concluded. “Nearly 90% of directors of public health support such an inclusion, which would help councils take health issues into account in licensing decisions.
“We disagree that the Late Night Levy should be scrapped as it has helped to address the shortfall in income that otherwise prevents councils from putting innovative ideas into practice. We would urge more time to be given to consider the effectiveness of late night levies applied to premises in more localised ‘hotspots’, rather than across whole local authority areas.
“With many councils already making use of more scope to use licensing policy to shape local areas, no legislative change is needed. Licensing and planning are fundamentally different functions which should remain separate.”
Top Image: Chris Radburn PA Wire
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