The month of April saw a new set of licensing measures come into force for licensees
who continue in the selling of alcohol to children that are under the legal age to drink alcohol.
The head licensing specialist solicitor at Napthens Solicitors, Malcolm Ireland, highlights that April saw an introduction of a significant number of new rules and regulations under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act. Further reforms are set to be introduced and rolled out later in the year.
Persistently selling alcohol to children under the legal age saw the previous fine double in the month of April. The Council Licensing Authorities and Primary Care Trusts have now been made "Responsible Authorities" which give them many of the same rights as the Police, including enabling them to make representations on applications for licensing.
The vicinity test' has now come to an end, which allowed individuals who didn't live close to a premises make representations on licensing applications that relate to it.
Later in the year, a controversial Late Night Levy is also being planned and introduced, which will see licensees selling alcohol later on in the night being charged a fee to do so.
Malcolm Ireland from Napthens Solicitors said: "The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act was an important change to the previous licensing legislation and has introduced a whole range of new responsibilities and changes to the day to day operations of the licensees.
"It is essential that licensees are already up to date with the new changes that were introduced in April and to make sure they are ready to implement the second legislations that will come into effect later in the year such as the Late Night Levy.
"There are some potentially far reaching implications for licensees. The Government says it is aiming to control some parts of the current drinking culture in the UK, although there are a number of allegations from the trade that there will be unintentional penalties and that the Government is using disproportional force to overcome something that is a actually a minor problem." END.