The government was criticised for its management of implementing the Licensing Act 2003, as reported by the BBC (here) and many others. The criticism came from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) Select Committee, who said:
The ODPM failed local authorities: the department is there to support the workings of local authorities. We see little evidence that this was done during the transition period. Nor was action taken when direct appeals were made.
The Committee made a number of recommendations that may have a bearing on the revised guidance being prepared by Department of Culture and Sport (DCMS), such as:
- introduction of a mediation procedure into the application process, in order to foster better relations between licensees and residents, to reduce the burden on magistrates’ courts and to minimise the cost to applicants
- annual day for payment of fees
- allowing residents to object to Temporary Event Notice applications
- consideration of the disproportionate impact of fees on small businesses
- review DCMS guidance to residents
- clarification of the government's position towards the issue of zoning, and making the right of local authorities to create zones of cumulative impact explicit, so that local authorities and licensees alike can understand the aims of the Act in this respect
The report can be downloaded here.
The Elton review of licensing fees is due to report in Autumn 2006 (info here); The review panel published Independent Licensing Fees Review- Interim Report in November 2005, which can be downloaded here.
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