A new Bill that would hand increased licensing powers to local authorities has reached Parliament.

Under the terms of the Police Reform & Social Responsibility Bill, venues that routinely sell booze to underage drinkers will now be subject to fines of £20,000 instead of £10,000. Extra levies will be imposed on bars and clubs that are open late.

The Bill gets its first reading the day after the coalition published its long-awaited White Paper on public health. That saw funding of £4bn ring-fenced for local authorities to tackle issues such as drinking, smoking and obesity.

Whitehall also confirmed that tax on beers and lagers stronger than 7.5% abv would rise from next autumn, although the scale of the duty increase will not be announced until the next Budget. 

Commenting on the Bill, Brigid Simmonds of the British Beer & Pub Association said: “We understand the Government’s wish to give local councils a greater role in the licensing process but several of the proposals would increase the red tape that has been so damaging to Britain’s pubs in recent years.

“A new night-time levy would add to cost for pubs without recognising that problem behaviour increasingly results from people drinking at home before they go out.”

She added: “The Licensing Act has only been in place five years yet we have already had several major reforms. In that time, over 6,000 pubs have closed and nearly 70% of alcohol sales are now in shops and supermarkets.”

Read more
Lansley vows to ‘nudge not nanny’ in health White Paper (30 November 2010)
Lansley to speak at The Grocer health debate (1 November 2010)