Legal: streamlining on-trade alcohol licensing
Ewen Macgregor, licensing Partner at TLT, looks at how government is planning to modernise the Licensing Act.
In August of this year, the government published the Licensing Policy Sprint: Joint industry and HM Government taskforce report – a bold call to modernise the Licensing Act and unlock growth for the hospitality sector.
The message was clear: it’s time to strip back outdated regulation, embrace dynamic deregulation and create a licensing system that is fit for the future and reflects the needs of modern businesses and communities.
The government is now consulting on 10 priority recommendations with a particular focus on streamlining on-trade alcohol licensing.
This includes proposals to:
- Reduce red tape
- Introduce a National Licensing Policy Framework to harmonise standards across England and Wales – should promoting economic growth become a licensing objective?
- Removing the requirement to advertise applications for new licences and full variations in the local press
- The removal of historic (and outdated) licence conditions that are no longer appropriate or proportionate
- Simplify outdoor trading rules in relation to pavement licences
- Define the consumption of alcohol in external areas as an on sale
- Increasing the number of temporary event notices to levels permitted during Covid
- Allow for the designation of ‘cultural areas of import’ by councils
- Give greater weight to the ‘agent of change principle’
- Encourage local authorities to designate zones within town and city centres as hospitality, leisure and cultural zones.
Much of this will likely be welcomed by most in the trade, but are there unintended consequences of the proposed changes? Does the designation of cultural areas of import, risk limiting opportunities elsewhere, for instance?
These are important questions, and this review a valuable opportunity for the industry to help shape the future of licensing.
The consultation closes on 6 November 2025. This is a call to action to the industry to engage and inform the decisions that have the potential to make a huge impact on the ongoing success of the sector.
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