NEWS: Call from highest level for common sense regulatory approach during the World

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed has issued a letter which will hopefully be interpreted by the enforcement agencies as an instruction to approach regulation of the hospitality sphere with common sense.

He has called on councils to support as many Temporary Event Notices (TENs) as possible to help pubs extend their opening hours and host screenings during England’s World Cup campaign.

This is set out in a letter in which he states:

“We’ve already announced extensions to licensing hours, and now we need local authorities to play their part. You’ll know that pubs can apply to you for ‘Temporary Event Notices’ to extend their hours and put on special events. I am asking you to support as many of these as you can, and to deal with them quickly – especially for ones in beer gardens. The last thing any of us want to see is people being turfed in doors half-way through penalties.”

He continues with:

“The vast majority of licensing authorities do an excellent job and we know you will allow for as many notices as you can, so thank you in advance for your support If it appears authorities are unnecessarily blocking people from getting together or holding things up, I will want to know why. We want to do everything we can to make sure people across the country can come together to support England and enjoy the tournament.”