Licensing reform gains momentum
by Andrew Sangster
The pace of deregulation of liquor licensing laws quickened last week with the announcement that pubs in England and Wales will soon be able to serve alcohol on Sunday afternoons.
The latest reform of the antiquated system follows the introduction of Children's Certificates at the beginning of this year.
The proposal to "sweep away" the restrictions on sales of liquor on Sunday were unexpectedly announced by Prime Minister John Major as part of an after-dinner speech to the Retail Consortium. He promised that the compulsory afternoon break for pubs on Sunday, from 3pm to 7pm, would end as soon as possible. The restrictions on off-licences and supermarkets selling alcohol on Sunday would also be lifted.
Pub operators and brewers welcomed the reform to Sunday opening. The Brewers and Licensed Retailers Association had mounted a long-running campaign for British licensing law to be brought in line with practice in continental Europe.
Spokeswoman Catherine Chenery said: "Tourists are baffled by our pubs shutting on Sunday afternoons. The change will boost tourism and mean more jobs."
But the licensing change does not herald a revolution. Most pub operators believe it is simply the law catching up with commercial practice.
Jerry Watson, a spokesman for Bass Taverns, the managed house division of Britain's biggest pub operator, Bass, said the licensing reforms were an additional opportunity.
"The reforms need putting into the perspective of what the industry has already done," Mr Watson said.
Positive move
Roger Young, joint chairman and managing director of Greenalls Inns, said the proposed change was "a positive move but not the biggest boost pubs have seen". He pointed out that pubs with separate dining areas were already allowed to open on Sunday afternoons.
The changes to the licensing law came as the first applications for Children's Certificates in England and Wales were being submitted to magistrates.
A telephone poll conducted last week by Caterer showed that a quarter of independent licensees planned to apply. Of the 50 licensees contacted, 13 said they were applying for a certificate this year, seven said they may in the longer term and 30 said they would not be applying.
These figures broadly match what is happening among the larger pub operators. Mr Watson estimated that 20% of Bass Taverns' outlets would apply for a certificate this year.
David Hamilton, a partner in the licensing department of solicitor Cartwrights, said people were holding back to see what restrictions magistrates were imposing on the granting of the certificates.
"But we're advising clients to get in quickly with their applications as the Home Office guidance to magistrates is quite liberal," he added.
John Brackenbury, chairman of Pubmaster, which has a mostly tenanted pub estate, said allowing children into pubs reflected a need to "legitimise what has been going on anyway in some pubs".
He said the Government should now accede to demands by the licensed trade and pub-goers to extend opening hours by an hour on Friday and Saturday evenings.
