London police chief calls for delay on licensing shake-up

London's chief of police has called for a delay on the introduction of new licensing laws in England and Wales planned for early this year.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens said the start of the transition period, scheduled to begin on 7 February, should be deferred so a proper assessment

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	Stevens: fears increase in violence

of the impact of the changes could be made. Stevens said he feared that the liberalisation of drinking laws would lead to an increase in alcohol-related violence, with the British public unlikely to approach the new laws maturely. "It's a sad state of affairs which won't be helped by a headlong rush towards a 24-hour drinking culture," he said. His concerns are shared by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), which predicted that a busier night-time economy would cause a rise in crime and disorder. Both Stevens and ACPO believe police resources will have to be diverted to city-centre streets during extended opening hours. But the British Beer and Pub Association said the two-year process to introduce the 2003 Licensing Act had been considered. "Scotland relaxed its licensing laws 29 years ago. It's time to get the new licensing regime implemented here," said a spokeswoman. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) maintained that liberalisation would reduce street violence, with staggered closing times preventing build-ups of drunken, unruly youths. A DCMS spokesman said: "The police are currently involved in up to 1.8 million licensing processes annually. When the act is in force this will be reduced to about 200,000, saving £15m a year that can be transferred to frontline policing." Advisory body the Royal College of Physicians fears that the new regime will put NHS accident and emergency services under greater pressure. It believes new laws will mean longer drinking hours, and that alcohol prices should be raised further to control binge-drinking. *Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 6 January 2005*