La Lutte Continuera

The Open All Hours? Campaign comprises residents' and other groups from all over England who seek improvements to the Alcohol and Entertainment Bill. Whilst the campaign believes that reform is needed to bring alcohol and entertainment licensing into line with modern needs, it argues that the Bill is very unbalanced.

It is important, says Open All Hours?, to distinguish between the 'evening economy' and the 'late night economy'. The evening economy has brought vibrancy to town and city centres by later opening of shops, sports and cultural venues, as well as restaurants and bars, and has been a valuable regeneration tool. Our concern is with the emerging post-midnight 'late night economy', where the costs and benefits to society are more finely balanced.

The night economy is already causing problems of crime and disorder, anti-social behaviour, noise and nuisance for local communities. At night, many town and city centres have become threatening and unpleasant environments, intimidating to those seeking a quieter night out, and intolerable for long-suffering residents.

Open All Hours? believes that an holistic approach is needed to ensure that town centres are managed in the interests of all. The Bill, far from providing the means for tackling these problems, as the Government claims, is likely to make them worse.

Open All Hours? has recently published its final report which is summarised in three sections: the questionable assumptions which underlie the Bill; how Open All Hours? wants the Bill amended; and how the Government can ensure that the changes work well.

QUESTIONABLE ASSUMPTIONS

The Government claims that there is wide support for licensing deregulation and extended drinking hours; but opinion polls show no region of the country, nor any age-group, with a majority in favour of 24-hour opening. Women are more strongly opposed than men.

It also gives the impression that the existing licensing regime in England and Wales is uniquely restrictive, and that the Bill will only bring us into line with other European countries, but, in fact, most are not nearly as deregulated as the Government claims.

A feature of the British alcohol scene is that it is particularly characterised by 'mass volume vertical drinking' in which people stand, rather than sit at tables, with consuming quantities of alcohol as an end in itself. This is not, however, a result of restricted hours; deregulation is therefore likely to exacerbate it. A recent research study by the Central Cities Institute into other northern European Capitals found that it is not the length of opening hours which makes a more ordered environment but the drinking culture, combined with a strong regulatory regime and controls over numbers of premises.

HOW DO WE WANT THE BILL AMENDED?
Cumulative Impact

A main problem is 'saturation' - an over-concentration of premises in a locality. On weekend nights especially, the centres of large and small towns attract thousands more than the public service infrastructure can manage. These 'hot spots' cannot be controlled merely by granting every license application, with conditions. It is the number of premises concentrated together which cause unacceptable problems of noise and nuisance, by the sheer numbers of people arriving at, leaving and moving between, such venues.

Local licensing committees will only be able to assess an application in terms of whether it will create crime, disorder or nuisance within the premises or its immediate curtilage, not whether it will add adversely to the cumulative impact of premises already in the area.

We therefore recommend adding a fifth licensing objective to those already in the Bill:

'The prevention of licensed premises in a defined area becoming so numerous that the granting of further premises licences will undermine the other licensing objectives.'

Robust Local Licensing Policies

It is essential that Local Authorities be allowed to formulate licensing policies which can respond to local conditions. The Bill replaces local discretion by Ministerial Guidance. Yet there can be wide variations within a single local authority area. Whilst there may be a need to control late night activity in one area, it may be unobjectionable in another. A local authority must be able to set out policies on an 'area by area' basis.

We recommend that local licensing authorities be given sufficient discretion to formulate local licensing policies which respond to local conditions. Non-compliance with an agreed policy should be a ground for the refusal of the grant of a premises licence or the imposition of a condition restricting the hours.

Locally-set fees to meet locally-generated costs

One of the Bill's aims is to reduce the burden of costs on the industry. Regardless of economic benefits, the 'late night economy' also imposes social costs on local communities and the public purse. The Bill is likely to increase the costs to society, but will not provide the resources for their effective management.

The industry will save costs and pay lower license fees - to be set by central Government. Government will save by abolishing Local Justices Licensing Committees and will gain from extra excise duty. Local Authorities, on the other hand, will have increased costs, which they will have to recoup either from council tax payers or reduced services. The low licensing fees will make no contribution to the extra cleansing, public convenience provision, noise team call-outs, CCTV and policing costs, which can all be expected to increase.

We recommend that fees be set by licensing authorities to meet their legitimate costs. The 'polluter pays' principle should be used to meet the costs to society arising from late-night activity, as in other industries.

HOW CAN THE REST OF GOVERNMENT ENSURE THAT THE CHANGES WORK WELL?Office of the Deputy Prime Minister:5
Effective Planning for the 'night-time economy'

The Government's Urban Renaissance agenda has the potential to deliver far more important benefits to society than deregulation of drinking hours and should take priority. Local authorities will need to gear up for the environmental disruption that the Bill will create.

LPAs should also consider the local impact of changes of use from A3 to D2, ensure that resources are in place to meet the anticipated impact before granting consents for long hours, and use Conditions and Section 106 Agreements to minimise adverse impact.

Before the Bill receives Royal Assent, we recommend that Government issues a new Planning Policy Guidance Note requiring Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to adopt specific policies, in their local plans, in relation to the 'night-time economy' and the need to consider conditions as regards hours and numbers.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
Controlling Public Nuisance

Public nuisance takes many forms. The behaviour that can accompany the 'late night economy' can impair quality of life of both local residents and other visitors.

We recommend that DEFRA issue advice for controlling and minimising noise from late night entertainment.

We recommend powers to deal with noise nuisance within premises and on the street, and to reduce ambient noise levels in central areas where they exceed recommended levels.

The Bill should put licensing authorities under a duty to place conditions on licenses to control noise both from the premises and from patrons outside them. Section 106 Agreements should be used to ensure provision of public conveniences, litter bins and extra street cleansing, or a contribution towards them.

Home Office:
Tackling Crime and Disorder

These terms are imprecisely defined in all legislation seeking to control 'disorder', 'nuisance' and 'anti-social behaviour', so that no-one knows what is and what is not 'acceptable' behaviour. The Home Office must clarify this.

Lord Chancellor's Department:
Protecting Residents' Rights

The Bill puts an unfair burden on the local community by placing the burden of proof on individuals who will be affected by, rather than on those who will profit from, the activity. Local residents will have to take on the might of the entertainment industry and prove, in advance of a premises opening, that the new licence will cause intolerable problems justifying refusal or conditions. We are also concerned that residents will only have the right to object if they live in the vicinity of the proposed venue. We are aware that residents can be affected even if they do not live in the immediate vicinity. A hearing will further increase this inequity; lay people will have to sustain their objections against expert lawyers, specialist consultants and technical experts presenting the applicants' case.

It is unrealistic and unfair to expect residents to make a convincing case before the premises have even opened. This should be the role of local licensing policies and Government guidance must allow the general application of conditions to protect residents from nuisance, crime or disorder.

The licensing authority must be able to consider fully an application and the burden should be on the applicant to show that, on balance, a venture trading late into the night will be unlikely to breach licensing objectives. This would encourage applicants to build in mitigation measures.