Purnell defends new licensing laws

12 July 2005
Purnell defends new licensing laws

Licensing minister James Purnell has defended England and Wales's new licensing laws, dismissing claims they will fuel anti-social behaviour in town and city centres.

In a heated debate on the licensing regime in the House of Commons today, Purnell said the new laws would give councils powers to block openings and close down problem pubs.

Responding to Conservative MP David Evennett's concern over 24-hour drinking, Purnell said only a single application for 24-hour opening had to date been accepted from 60,000 applications.

The licensing minister also dismissed claims by Liberal Democrat MP Don Foster that guidance on saturation policy, which allows councils to refuse licences on the grounds there are too many pubs or bars in an area, needed clarification.

But Conservative leader Michael Howard reiterated his call for an extension to the current licence conversion deadline 6 August, citing that with 25 days to go just 20% of licence applications expected had been received.

Operators that miss the conversion deadline lose any guarantee of their current opening hours and operators conditions and instead will have to apply as if a new business.

The 2003 Licensing Act comes into force in England and Wales on 24 November this year.

Buy this week's Caterer magazine for more industry news and analysis

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking