21 January 2005
Westminster City Council has warned it will challenge the new licensing law unless the fee structure covers its extra costs of £4m by 2008.
The London borough, home to the biggest concentration of licensed premises in Europe, told Public Finance it would be '100% behind' a judicial review of the Licensing Act 2003 if the Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not allow it to recoup the cost of implementing 24-hour licensing through fees.
Westminster followed neighbouring Camden in attacking the DCMS's plan to allow pubs and bars to apply for 24-hour licences without promising to 'indemnify' authorities against the cost of administering the new regime.
A spokesman for Westminster said: 'We have informed [DCMS secretary] Tessa Jowell that the current proposals are unacceptable. We would support Camden in calling for a judicial review.'
To placate critics, ministers were understood to be considering amendments to their proposals this week. A DCMS spokeswoman said 'a separate announcement' would accompany the publication of the fees structure on January 21.
The department sent its proposed fees to councils in 2004, with annual licences understood to vary from £40 to £225. Using those figures, Westminster estimated that it would lose £4m over the first three years of the scheme.
The Local Government Association has claimed authorities would suffer a shortfall of £40m. The DCMS maintained it would be 'cost neutral' once fees were applied.
The law, which takes responsibility for liquor licences away from magistrates, has also been criticised by anti-addiction lobbyists and police chiefs, who fear a rise in alcohol-related crime.
PFjan2005
