Government rules out additional mechanism to improve co-ordination between licensing and planning but will revisit section 182 guidance

The Government has rejected a call from the House of Lords to integrate the planning and licensing systems more formally.

This came in the response to a follow-up report by the House of Lords Select Committee on the Licensing Act 2003 to its 2017 legislative scrutiny report.

Peers had been disappointed by the lack of progress since 2017 in improving coordination between the licensing and planning systems.

They said: “It is clear that issues between the two systems remain and we regret that there has been no initiative from Government to take forward the work undertaken to explore solutions.”

Peers urged ministers to work with the Institute of Licensing and the Local Government Association to establish a clear mechanism for licensing and planning systems to work together.

But the Government response said that while coordination was important, the two systems were “separate, with two very different and distinct objectives and approaches”.

It said planning authorities were already party to all licensing applications under the Licensing Act and licensing committees could discharge functions other than licensing where a matter related to a licensing function, including planning.

“The powers are there to enable planning and licensing to work together to support the needs and aspirations of local communities and we do not intend to introduce an additional mechanism,” the response said.

Peers had said section 182 Guidance and the Licensing Act 2003 Councillor’s Handbook advice on licensing and planning systems working together should be reinforced and amended.

The Government said: “We recognise that good practice is not as widespread as it could be and that how the two systems interact can be inconsistent.

“We will revisit the section 182 Guidance with a view to strengthening advice on local coordination and the expectations of the local systems further.”

The Government response also said the ‘agent of change’ principle would be incorporated into section 182 Guidance later this year.

The Lords report had noted: “We have heard that the principle as it stands is inadequate and does not sufficiently explain the duties of all parties involved and needs to go further to protect licensed premises and local residents in our changing high streets, and to prevent continuing uncertainty and inconsistency.”

‘Agent of change’ issues arise, for example, when a licensed music venue has residential accommodation built next to it whose residents then complain about noise from a pre-existing use; responsibility for mitigation falls on the owner of the new use.

“Government recognises the importance of ensuring that existing facilities, including cultural venues and businesses (including those associated with the night-time economy), do not have unreasonable restrictions placed on them as a result of changes in their area due to new development,” the response said.

Law firm John Gaunt & Partners, which specialises in licensing, said the response does not suggest any major changes to the current licensing system, but that some potential changes were on the way. 

Mark Smulian