Act now to avoid crush from the bars
The licensing department at Wealden District Council is taking action to avoid becoming bogged down over the next four weeks as it faces an expected deluge of licence applications from pubs, clubs and entertainment venues. Since February, Wealden Councillors and Officers have been urging publicans and other licensees to act. For some it may soon be too late.
With just a month to go, less than 40% of premises have applied to transfer their existing licenses.
Despite repeated calls at local and national level for premises to start making applications, the poor level of response means it is increasingly likely that some pubs and bars will miss the August 6 deadline for conversion of their old licence to the new system.
“Despite recognising that this is now the licensed trade's busiest period, the Government is determined to introduce the new system on time and have rejected any suggestions for an extension of the deadline date,” said Councillor Jim Hollins, chairman of the Liquor and Entertainments Licensing Committee.
“Our licensing team has made a huge effort to encourage licensees to get their applications in well before the deadline set by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.”
“Our Council officers always try to be as helpful as possible, but we have finite resources to process the applications. These will be processed on a strict first come, first served basis.“
“The 1500 licensed premises and venues in Wealden have had sufficient warning of these changes. Our Officers’ efforts must now be directed towards processing the applications made by those that have heeded the warnings and acted responsibly.”
Covering 322 square miles, Wealden has twice as many licensed premises as neighbouring local authorities in East Sussex.
Licensees can still transfer their existing licences until August 6. After that date they will have to apply for a completely new licence. But if they do not have a converted liquor licence, or a new one, by Thursday November 24, they will no longer be able to trade. November 24 is the final cut-off date for the legal operation of existing liquor licenses. From then, all licensed premises must have either transferred their old licence or applied for a new one under the Licensing Act 2003, otherwise they will no longer be able to operate.
“The Government has imposed some tight timescales for determining many of the applications received and we will be under a duty to comply with these,” said John Gallop, Head of Licensing and Pollution Control. “We are already looking at strategies to assist us during July and August.”
“As a result, we may not be able to provide as much advice and assistance to applicants as we normally would. Those that haven’t yet applied and are having difficulty filling out forms would be best advised to seek the help of a licensing solicitor or consultant.”
Applicants with particular difficulties are still advised to contact the Licensing Team on 01323 443550, or look at Wealden’s website.
