Alcohol Licensing News - New Government - New Regime?

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The past fortnight has observed momentous change in our political method. For the 1st time in seventy years we have a peacetime coalition government. It may perhaps be that in years to come we will look back on the agreement among the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats and see this period as a pivotal moment in our political history and the birth date of the "new politics" the politicians have been speaking about.

What does this mean for the licensed trade? The industry seems to have given a cautious welcome to the new Government, as reported last week by the Morning Advertiser and The Publican.

The Conservatives have traditionally been ideologically wedded to the concept of an individual's individual responsibility for their actions rather than to government attempting to control individual actions by means of reams of rules and regulations, and no doubt socially-liberal Liberal Democrats would also want to see a curb on the Nanny State. Whether or not such a alter in emphasis will have the desired effect of lowering anti-social behavior in the long term, remains to be observed.

The impact of the coalition may possibly mean consensus has to be reached far more frequently than in single-party governments, which may perhaps also curb the tendency for governments react hastily to headlines in the tabloid newspapers. A extra regarded as approach to licensing law and regulation would be most welcome.

The new Government's economic policy is still in its infancy, but the trade appears most worried about a probable hike in VAT from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent. Most of the licensed trade seem to see the VAT rise as inevitable. We are not so sure. The new Chancellor, George Osborne, has hinted that at the moment agreed tax rises potentially raise a lot more than he was aiming for in cutting the deficit. Raising VAT would be politically harmful, allowing the Opposition to say "I told you so".

The licensed trade seems much more hopeful as far as alcohol duty is concerned. Tax on alcohol has risen exponentially in the past couple of years, and this has played its component in depressing sales volumes and therefore, ironically, the tax take for the Treasury. Surely, the Conservatives pledged to ditch Labour's 10 per cent above inflation hike in alcohol duty and the Liberal Democrats also promised to assessment the existing alcohol tax regime, such as the "beer duty escalator", so some respite might be in order here.

Nowadays, the Morning Advertiser reports rumours that responsibility for licensing will be returned from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) back to the Household Workplace. If the rumours are accurate, what does this signal to the licensed trade? Can we expect a tougher regime from the government department responsible for law and order? Each the Conservatives and Lib Dems talked tough in the course of the election campaign. The Tories want tougher sanctions for each the police and local councils to eliminate licences, a tremendous increase in the fine for underage sales and an extra charge for late night premises. The Liberal Democrats want a Premises Licence reviewed just about every time an underage sale takes place there.

It appears clear which way the land lies. Yet, it is not clear what further powers could be given to curb rogue licensed premises. It is hoped the new Government might instead opt for to focus on receiving enforcement authorities and neighborhood residents to use the a number of and various powers they already have even more successfully. We live in interesting times. Let's hope, for the sake of the licensed trade, that does not turn out to be a curse.