Home Office rows back from plan to scrap personal licences

The Government will not proceed with plans to abolish the system of personal licences, the Home Office has said.

The Personal Alcohol Licences: Enabling Targeted, Local Alternatives consultation, which ran from 12 September to 7 November, had said the requirement to obtain a personal licence gave rise to costs in respect of application fees, training and criminal records checks.

The consultation proposed replacing the current requirement for every designated premises supervisor to obtain a personal licence with a targeted alternative scheme.

The idea was to allow licensing authorities to develop their own alternatives to the personal licences system. National accredited training courses would have been retained so that authorities had a common standard to refer to when imposing conditions.

However, in the Government response to the consultation published today (24 March) the Home Office acknowledged that the 352 responses were “largely against” the proposal.

Some 90% of respondents thought that the proposal to abolish personal licences would undermine the licensing objectives. Three quarters (72%) meanwhile did not think that the proposal would reduce burdens in terms of time and/or money on business.

Respondents from the trade were concerned that the proposal, if implemented, would cause inconsistency between licensing authority areas in terms of applying training conditions on premises. “Whilst it was acknowledged by many that the system of personal licences was not perfect, many thought it provided a level playing field for premises, ensured consistency between areas and set a benchmark of training.”

Among licensing authorities, there was some support for the premise of the proposal as it would provide greater localisation. “However, more thought that there would be additional burdens through having to impose training conditions on premises,” the Government response said. “A proportion thought that the personal licence qualification provided some basic training.”

Respondents from the police were meanwhile “generally opposed to the proposal and indicated their preference for the system of personal licences to be kept or even tightened up and made more rigorous”. Concerns were expressed about the lack of consistency in training which could arise under the proposal and police respondents “felt that the current system at least ensured a minimum standard of training.

A number of responses suggested ways in which the existing system could instead be developed and tightened.

The Home Office said: “The Government welcomed these suggestions in the context of its consultation on proposed deregulation. Reforms to the licensing regime must be proportionate and cost effective.

“The Government has no immediate plans to take these forward at this time. However, it will maintain an on-going, open dialogue with its partners and ensure that any proposed changes to alcohol licensing continue to strike a balance between removing unnecessary bureaucracy for responsible businesses but maintaining important safeguards.”

Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, welcomed the Home Office announcement.

“It is very good news the Government has listened to the industry, as the whole trade was united in opposition,” she said. “Personal licences work well, setting a national standard which is supported by both local authorities and the police. They are important for the reputation of the industry, and are needed, as a nationally recognised qualification.”

Simmonds added: “The Government’s intentions on deregulation are still very welcome; we will always be keen to work with them on the many other areas where action to reduce red tape is needed.”