Licensing Disaster Looming for Bath

3.45.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 31st Aug 2004

Liberal Democrats Councillors on Bath and North East Somerset are warning of a potential licensing disaster where all licensed premises could remain open 24 hours a day in the City because the Conservative Executive Member has failed to bring forward robust arrangements for the new licensing laws.

The Licensing Act 2003 will see the transfer of the licensing of pubs and off-licenses from the Magistrates to Council's. Unbelievably the Conservative Executive Member has made no provision or plans for additional staff to cover the hundreds of applications. This could mean that licensed premises will automatically receive a 24 hour license as the Council would have failed to deal with applications in time.

Cllr David Bellotti (Liberal Democrat; Lyncombe) who is a member of the Council's Licensing Committee says:

"I am very disappointed that the Executive Member has chosen to ignore our warnings and plough ahead with a consultation on a policy that could lead to chaos in our City.

"The new Act is very clear. There are very tight deadlines that we will have to deal with and the hundreds of extra applications our bound to have an affect on resources and staffing levels. Unfortunately he has refused to appoint any extra staff to deal with this and so has created a ticking timebomb.

"Cllr Pritchard has failed to attend any licensing committee meeting to learn from our experiences despite several promises that he would do so before a policy was issued. He has also chosen to ignore submissions from Liberal Democrat Councillors.

"In February the Council will be hit with hundreds of new applications. We need to be employing extra staff now to ensure that they have the training to deal with this. If we fail it is very likely that council tax payers will be facing even larger bills as the Council will be responsible for large legal costs because of its maladministration. Worse still, local residents could suffer from serious noise and disturbance from 24 hour licensing."

The new Act requires all Licensees to reregister within 6 months of February next year. In addition far more legal procedures and the possibility of hearings and legal appeals will create an even greater burden. Any failure to determine correctly or on time will see the Council held responsible and Licensees could see licenses automatically issued no matter what objections are lodged.

Contact: Cllr David Bellotti on 01225 427560 or on 07801 051431.

Or if you cannot get the above contact Tim on 01225 477419 or 07776 437161 for assistance.