By Lucy Phillips
28 March 2011
Ministers are drawing up legislation to allow councils to recover all their costs from issuing and monitoring alcohol and late-night entertainment licences.
A new clause has been tabled in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill and will be debated in the Commons this week. If the legislation is passed, it will enable licensing authorities to set cost-neutral fees for the first time.
The Local Government Association, which has been lobbying for the change, welcomed the move. The group claims operating the current licensing system, which has been in place since 2005, has cost council taxpayers over £100m more than anticipated – and is unsustainable in the current economic climate.
Nilgun Canver, LGA licensing champion, said: ‘It is the council that people complain to about noise pollution and violent drunken behaviour, so being able to take swift action against those individuals and offending pubs, clubs or restaurants responsible is vital for public protection. But it all costs money.
‘Local authorities have always needed to be able to set licensing fees that allow them to recoup the full cost of their expenditure. A tremendous amount of work and administration can go into ensuring premises are properly licensed and that any complaints are investigated appropriately. With councils facing the toughest budget decisions ever, council taxpayers could not be expected to help subsidise the current system any longer.’
As well as overhauling the Licensing Act, the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill includes clauses to introduce directly elected police and crime commissioners and new police and crime panels to oversee them.
