Pubs to stay open until early hours in push for UK growth

Pubs, clubs and restaurants will be able to open into the early hours as part of Labour’s drive for economic growth, a move which critics say will lead to more drunken disorder. Ministers are pushing ahead with plans to allow premises that sell alcohol to extend their opening hours in order to boost “the British night out” and help the hospitality sector. Keir Starmer is preparing to throw his weight behind the plan, which has been drawn up by leaders of the alcohol and hospitality industries and rubber-stamped by the Treasury. However, critics are warning that the planned liberalisation of the alcohol licensing regime in England and Wales will erode local councils’ right to decide on opening hours, hand the drink industry unprecedented power and limit the ability of people affected by late night openings to object. The plans amount to “a charter for chaos” that will lead to more drink-related aggression, greater violence against women and even more deaths from alcohol, health experts claim. They would “allow an open all hours free-for-all in the availability of alcohol”, said Dr Katherine Severi, the chief executive of the Institute of Alcohol Studies thinktank. But Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UK Hospitality, said that “a new and improved licensing system that is fit for the 21st century will be a huge boost to the nation’s pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels”. Nick Mackenzie, the chief executive of Greene King, agreed, adding that existing licensing regulations “provide a clear example of how well-intentioned legislation can inhibit economic growth, with excessive restrictions often limiting premises’ ability to respond to changing circumstances and customer demand”. Local authorities and police and crime commissioners fear that extended late night opening will lead to more noise, nuisance and antisocial behaviour blighting the lives of residents who live near licensed premises. “These proposed reforms, developed without adequate input from policing, ambulance services, local licensing authorities, health experts or citizens are a charter for chaos,” said Dr Richard Piper, the chief executive of the charity Alcohol Change UK. “One of the biggest things that people across the country are desperate to see is safer streets with less antisocial behaviour. Yet these proposals – little more than an alcohol industry wish-list – would deliver the opposite.” “Allowing petrol stations, off-licences and corner shops to sell alcohol even later into the evening, or the early hours, will inevitably mean more victims of crime, including domestic violence, more antisocial behaviour and disturbance, more police time spent dealing with drink-fuelled incidents and both ambulance and A&E staff having to deal with even more people who have come to harm as a result of alcohol,” he added. The plans centre on major reforms of the Licensing Act 2003, under which local councils grant licences to 224,000 pubs, clubs, restaurants and supermarkets to sell alcohol within set hours. Council licensing committees of elected councillors base their decisions on four “licensing objectives”: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, prevention of public nuisance and protecting children from harm. But the government-appointed taskforce behind the plan has suggested the creation of a new fifth objective – promoting economic growth – which councils would have to take into account when deciding on applications for new premises or longer opening hours. That has sparked claims that the government has become too close to the alcohol industry. “Adding a new objective focused on economic growth is completely ludicrous and undermines the purpose of licensing”, said Prof Sir Ian Gilmore, the chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance. “Licensing exists to protect people, not business profits. To push this through while alcohol deaths are at record highs raises serious questions about who this government is really working for.” The taskforce was co-chaired by Mackenzie and Gareth Thomas, at the time a business and trade minister. It also included representatives of UK Hospitality, the Night Time Industries Association and live music industry as well as from the National Police Chiefs Council and greater London Authority. Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, has been granted powers to overrule licensing decisions by the capital’s 32 local councils if he judges that that will boost the city’s night time economy and appeal to tourists. When the proposals were first floated earlier this year the government said that it was “calling ‘last orders’ on red tape choking pubs, clubs and restaurants in [a] major boost to the British night out”. Severi warned ministers that the push to help the hospitality sector could backfire as off-licences, corner shops and supermarkets, which already sell 75% of all alcohol, would also take advantage of easier access to longer opening hours. “Using licensing to deregulate alcohol sales in the name of business growth is misguided and irresponsible”, she added. “While the government may be wary of introducing public health measures that could be seen as unpopular with Reform UK voters or criticised as ‘nanny state’ policies, polling shows strong support among Reform voters for government action to protect and promote health, particularly when it helps reduce preventable disease and ease pressure on the NHS,” she added. The plan will also restrict local councils’ long-held freedom to control licensing in their area by creating a new “national licensing policy framework” which would enhance the role of unelected licensing officers and diminish the power of elected representatives. “These reforms would hollow out the power of local licensing authorities, giving decisive influence to unelected officials and unaccountable bodies”, said James Nicholls, an expert in alcohol policy at Stirling University. They will also make it harder for residents to object to applications from operators to open new premises or extend opening hours, he added. His colleague Prof Niamh Fitzgerald said: “These proposals are completely contrary to any intention to deliver safer streets or reduce violence against women. The Home Office’s own analysis has found that alcohol is a factor in half of all intimate partner murders.” A government spokesperson said: “We are looking to rebalance the licensing system, to one which both protects local communities and gives businesses the flexibility they need to invest and adapt to changing consumer trends.