Greater public say on licensing decisions welcomed

Glass of Beer

North West health campaign group Our Life has welcomed new government measures to give local communities more powers to influence licensing decisions as part of a range of measures to tackle alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour.

The measures, contained in a new Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, include giving communities and local authorities greater control over alcohol licensing to tackle problem premises.

Councils will have new powers to restrict premises from selling alcohol late at night and will be able to clamp down harder on premises who persistently sell to children. NHS trusts will also be able to oppose applications for new alcohol licenses where public health could be put at risk.

Our Life chief executive Dr Alison Giles said: “When the government consulted on these issues earlier in the year we presented research that showed that nearly 50% of people in the North West avoid their town centres at night because of the drunken behaviour of others, so we are delighted that the public is to be given a say in when, where and how new licenses are granted. Our Life has also long argued for licensing to take account of health considerations and we welcome the fact that the government has come round to this way of thinking.”

While welcoming many of the bill’s measures to address alcohol-fuelled violence and disorder, Our Life was critical of the non-inclusion of any proposals to ban below-cost selling of alcohol by supermarkets. The government had previously promised to implement a ban on below cost sales and this was widely expected to be included in the bill, but the Home Office today confirmed it had not been taken forward.

“We are very disappointed that the government has not seen fit to take immediate action to stop supermarkets selling alcohol at pocket-money prices,” said Dr Giles. “Our understanding is that the Home Office is struggling over the definition of below-cost and how this might be implemented. Our advice to them is simple. The most effective method of enforcing a ban on below-cost selling is to introduce a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol without delay. Our Life will continue to campaign for its introduction.”