Lambeth Policy consultation shortly to expire!

We do not generally news licensing policy consultations but that for Lambeth is imminently to expire - 7 October 2013.

Some fairly draconian measures are under consideration.  According to their website these include:

• requirements that license holders demonstrate that they know their area and have engaged with neighbours
• a joint commitment to enforce the terms of licenses; this applies to residents’ groups and licensee forums, but also to individual residents and businesses
• Evidence of voluntary self-policing by businesses; elsewhere self-imposed policies like “no single can sales” have helped generate confidence among residents.

When a business applies for a licence they will be expected to include :

• a clearly structured schedule of opening hours
• a plan for adapting to the neighbourhood.

They are considering the adoption of an EMRO and /or a Late Night Levy:

• late night levies to help pay for policing (with 70 per cent automatically going straight to the police)
• early Morning Restriction Orders (EMROs), banning alcohol sales at certain times.  

They want businesses to take several steps to protect patrons and particularly female patrons:

• giving customers numbers for trusted minicabs, and ensuring all minicabs operating outside the premises are vetted
• providing safe places for women to sober up before leaving bars and nightclubs
• giving staff specific training on how to identify and deal with sexual harassment.

‘Protection of young people is also a key priority’. They propose the following steps to eradicate underage drinking:

• replacing the current ‘three strikes’ policy before they take action with a ‘one strike’ policy
• planning more undercover test purchases, to identify places that are serving young people
• encouraging businesses to adopt Challenge 25.

The consultation can be found here: LINK