05 August 2005
The new licensing regime has been condemned as a 'shambles' by industry representatives as the government's own estimates suggest that at least 30% of businesses will miss the August 6 deadline.
The Federation of Small Businesses warned this week that the introduction of the new system, under which councils are assuming responsibility for granting alcohol licences, had descended into chaos because of ministers' intransigence.
FSB policy chair John Walker said the government had refused to listen to members' concerns that the application process, involving a 26-page form, was too complicated and time-consuming. 'The failure of businesses to renew their licences is a time bomb of the government's making that we warned was set to explode this summer,' he claimed.
Under the government's reforms, six alcohol licences are being merged into one. Businesses must apply for the new unified licence before August 6 to ensure they have one when the new system comes into effect on November 24.
Licensing minister James Purnell confirmed this week that its introduction would not be delayed, despite the problems. A spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which oversees licensing, told Public Finance that the ministry hoped 70% of businesses would meet the deadline.
But the department's own figures show that by July 29, one week before the deadline, just 65% of applications had been submitted. There are around 190,000 licensed premises in England and Wales, so, even if the DCMS's projections are correct, 57,000 businesses will miss the deadline.
The spokeswoman said that ending the system of annual licence renewals would save business £2bn over the next ten years. 'It is a little bit of pain for a lot of lifetime gain,' she added.
PFaug2005
