Recently, the Morning Advertiser included a very useful update on the Business & Planning Act, which came into effect in July 2020. Certain provisions were included in the Act to help the hospitality industry when the first period of lockdown ended on 4 July 2020. There were two main provisions, both of which were, and have continued to be, well used. They were however only temporary, as explained below.
The first provision permitted all licensed premises to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises, irrespective of whether or not this provision was already included in the premises licence. It also permitted the delivery of alcohol sold on-line. There was no paperwork involved for the publican, apart from displaying a standard notice which stated that the provision was in use. It did however, not unreasonably, limit off-sales to 11pm. It became very useful in subsequent lockdowns, although some problems did occur with beer being sold in open containers, especially by the pint, and people drinking in the street or nearby parks. This provision is however due to expire on 30 September and the Morning Advertiser’s view is that the Government has no plans to extend it. Publicans who wish to continue off-sales but do not have it specifically included in their premises licence will have to formally apply for their licence to be changed.
This provision also allowed a publican to use external areas of the pub which were not specified in the premises licence as drinking areas. This arrangement also ends on 30 September and, again, an amendment to the premises licence will be required for it to continue.
The other provision, probably more applicable to restaurants, was the simplification of the process for obtaining licences for placing tables on the public highway. The requirement for planning permission was suspended and the consultation and decision process was reduced to ten days. This too is set to expire on 30 September but the previous process, under the Highways Act 1980, was slow and bureaucratic and it is thought that the Government may make the B&P Act’s ‘fast track’ process permanent in some way. These temporary arrangements were not always popular with local residents however, so that will need to be taken into account. We would hope that decisions will not be delegated to local authorities, with the consequence that the arrangements vary from borough to borough.
Given the setback that the hospitality trade suffered over Christmas and New Year, when we all hoped that it would begin a significant recovery, it would be a positive step to see these measures retained in some way. It would not be as significant as keeping the VAT rate at 12.5% (or lower) but to let them both lapse will be a backward step.