COVID19 | Pavement Licence scheme extended

As previously reported in June, the Government announced plans to extend the life of the Covid pavement licence scheme, the necessary Regulations, namely the Business and Planning Act 2020 (Pavement Licences) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2021, have now come into force extending the duration of the Covid Pavement Licence scheme by a further 12 months from 30th September 2021 to 30th September 2022.

Licences granted under the terms of the Business and Planning Act 2020 going forward from today can be approved until new end date of the scheme (30th September 2022).

The Regulations do not provide for existing permission (granted before 20th July 2021) to be automatically extended and those who hold such permissions should contact their Local Authority and may need to apply for a new licence. If you require assistance in this regard, please contact one of our team.

The expedited application process and fee cap (£100) remains.

The Business and Planning Act 2020 also provided for the automatic temporary modification of premises licences to permit off sales in certain circumstances (or to override certain conditions that might have impacted on off sales). This was important for certain premises not having off sales provisions (or conditions that prevented open containers being taken outside) so that they could serve alcohol in open containers to unlicensed external seating areas without the need for a premises licence variation.

The new Regulations do not appear to extend this element of the Business and Planning Act 2020.

If Regulations do not follow to extend the off sales modifications beyound September 2021 operators may need to urgently review their licences to check for the off sales provisions and restrictive conditions; and submit licence variations where required.

Please contact our team to discuss this should you need assistance.