The government has published its response to the consultation Dealing with the Problems of Late Night Drinking [pdf]. Draft legislation has been laid in parliament so that later this year local councils will be able to:
- use early morning alcohol restriction orders (EMROs) to restrict the sale of alcohol in all or part of their areas between midnight and 6am
- charge a levy for late-night licences to contribute to the cost of extra policing, and other costs linked to late-night drinking like street cleaning
The consultation response outlines the following decisions:
EMROS
- Persons that may be affected by an EMRO will have 42 days to make relevant representations for, or against, a proposed EMRO. (Paragraph 2.06)
- Licensing authorities will be required to notify licensed premises that would be included in the scope of a proposed EMRO, rather than all licensed premises in the licensing authority area. (Paragraph 2.07)
- A proposal to introduce an EMRO should be publicised on the licensing authority’s website and in their local newspaper. (Paragraph 2.07)
- EMROs will not apply on New Year’s Eve. (Paragraph 2.10)
- There will be no exemptions from EMROs. There will be provision to ensure that premises with overnight accommodation can still provide room service and mini-bars, if they are included in the scope of an EMRO. (Paragraph 2.17-2.18)
LATE NIGHT LEVY
- Local residents can use their existing rights to make representations and other channels of communication to call for the implementation of the levy in their area. (Paragraph 3.04)
- Premises with overnight accommodation (Paragraph 3.09), theatres, cinemas (Paragraph 3.12), bingo halls (Paragraph 3.14), CASCs (Paragraph 3.16), community premises (Paragraph 3.17), country village pubs (Paragraph 3.18) and BIDs (Paragraph 3.20) will be available as a discretionary local exemption from the levy.
- Restaurants (Paragraph 3.11), casinos (Paragraph 3.14) and private member’s clubs (Paragraph 3.26) will not be available as a discretionary local exemption from the levy.
- The levy will not apply on New Year’s Eve. (Paragraph 3.29)
- Licensing authorities will be able to offer a 30% reduction from the levy for best practice schemes that meet relevant criteria (Paragraph 3.34) and pubs that are in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief and have a rateable value below £12,000 (Paragraph 3.45).
- There will be no cumulative discounts from the levy. (Paragraph 3.40)
- Licensing authorities will be able to fund services that are connected to the management of the night-time economy and services that prevent and tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder with their revenue from the levy. (Paragraph 3.56)
The late-night levy and early morning alcohol restriction orders (EMROs) were set out in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. The full consultation details are set out here.
See here for a series of factsheets on the licensing changes.
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