All premises that want to have entertainment or provide alcohol will have to be licensed under one unified licensing system. The licensing is delegated to the local authorities who have tightly prescribed "objectives" for licensing. Rather than repeating information, let us point you to two sources of information: the Council licensing pages which have an explanation of some the process, and the Department of Culture pages which are not very well organised but does have the detail if you are motivated enough to work your way through it. There are some specific links of interest on the right.
There are three elements of the licensing:
- the Act, which defines the broad rules of licensing, (e.g. that there must be advertising to bring applications to the attention of affected parties).
- the Regulations, which define some detail as required by the Act which is considered to be changeable, (e.g. the positioning and size of the notices) This is set in place by the Secretary of State and therefore does not require a decision of Parliament to change it.
- the Guidance which is defined by the Department of Culture. Whilst the Guidance is not law, it cannot be ignored. Licensing Authorities can overrule it, but have to show good reason to do so, and would be at risk of legal challenge if they ignored it.
To residents suffering from nuisance, it is expected that it should be easier to take action - however, the new system is likely to be more evidence-based. If there is a nuisance you need to gather evidence in detail, and ensure that you can show that where practical you have brought the problem to the attention of the police, Council or licensee as appropriate. For example, whilst trading hours may have been extended late into the night, that does not give the premises any right to allow a nuisance to be caused to neighbouring properties and the licence could be modified if the problem was not resolved.
DDRA are happy to support local residents who are concerned by inappropriate late night extensions in residential areas, and we do have some concerns that there are some problems with the processes which we are seeking to have addressed.