Council chiefs call for review of "woefully out-of-date" licensing system

The Local Government Association has called for parts of the “woefully out-of-date” licensing system to be reviewed and either scrapped or simplified.

Legislation identified by the LGA as “outdated or excessive” include:

• The Town Police Clauses Act 1847, which regulates hackney carriages outside of London.
• The Hypnotism Act 1952, which sets out conditions relating to council licences for anyone giving a hypnotism performance or demonstration.
• The Performing Animals Act 1926, which was designed to manage the performance of animals in circuses. It requires the council to notify the Environment Secretary when a licence is issued.
• The Police, Factories etc (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916: an “arcane” piece of legislation that controls charity cash collections. The LGA said it was “devised long before the concept of direct debits or chugging developed” and therefore failed to cover both.

The LGA warned that the current system was deterring people from setting up and running a business in their community.

It also highlighted how a small start-up restaurant wishing to play music, serve alcohol, have tables and chairs outside, and hand out leaflets to promote the opening could need up to eight separate licences and permits before it could open.

The Association argued that all licensing regimes should be based on a common legal framework. “Instead of going through full bureaucratic renewals of licences, businesses would submit minimal updates, but with councils able to call in licences if there are problems.”

It also called for local licensing committees to be given powers to respond to the views of businesses and communities, and remove irrelevant rules or respond to new risks.

Cllr Mehboob Khan, Chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: “Councils want to encourage local growth and share the frustration of local businesses faced with countless licences and heavy costs before they can start trading. Millions of pounds are wasted each year managing this needless red tape and a licensing system that is woefully out-of-date and preventing councils from targeting the minority of businesses causing real problems.

“It is ridiculous that laws developed more than 100 years ago with no relevance to the 21st century remain in force, each with their own unfathomable maze of paperwork and fees. The time has come for government to commit to a full review of the system to remove some of these outdated regimes and to combine and simplify others.”

Cllr Khan added: “Overhauling these archaic licensing systems would strengthen the role of local licensing committees and democratically-elected councillors to make decisions about individual licences, remove irrelevant regimes and adapt to emerging local risks.

“This would make it easier for businesses to set up and operate, while ensuring councils have meaningful powers to tackle the few irresponsible businesses and safeguard their local residents and communities.”