Home Office consults on making pandemic alcohol licensing changes permanent

The Home Office has launched a consultation on whether there is support for making permanent the alcohol licensing provisions in the Business and Planning Act 2020 or whether to return to the provisions in the Licensing Act 2003.

The Licensing Act 2003 allows premises licence holders to sell alcohol for consumption on-site or for consumption off-site or both.

In response to the pandemic, the Business and Planning Act 2020 provided regulatory easements which enabled holders of licences that only allow sales for consumption on-site to automatically additionally do sales for consumption off-site, without any need to amend their licence.

The Licensing Act 2003 also allows licensable activities to be carried out on a one-off basis without the need for a premises licence or any other authorisation, by means of a temporary event notice. 

Provisions in the Business and Planning Act temporarily increased the annual number of temporary event notices that a licensed premise user can have per year.

The Home Office consultation is aimed at the hospitality sector, local licensing authorities, the police, licensed premises, members of the public and other interested parties in England and Wales where these proposals apply.

The consultation, which can be viewed here, will run until 1 May 2023.