Licensee's notes

Here we go again the government are on the hunt for the cause and remedy for the greatest problem that has ever hit the licensed trade in the last few years the phenomenon that has been discovered the binge drinker.

This strange but very real habit has only just come about in the governments eyes and has nothing to do with the increased use of CCTV covering our streets it is all down to the availability of cheap booze and bad bar management.  The licensing laws were never introduced in Carlisle to stop the munitions works spending all their time in the pubs - drinking to excess, nor were they introduced to try and make pubs more family friendly no not at all.

My guess is that they will try to stop this culture by regulation and that means more laws, yes gone for good will be happy hours, cheap booze promotions and 24 hour drinking in will come high taxes on alcohol, restricted advertising and tighter licensing laws.  Though I doubt that the prices in the commons bar will not rise to much and nor will their opening hours per restricted more than they are now.

The whole problem (if there actually is new one) comes from many factors but the main one being the disaster of a piece of legislation the Licensing Act of 2003 which on paper does not seem to bad an act.  However the big downfall of the act in my humble opinion is the transfer of licensing powers from the courts to the council - a disaster in waiting.

One of the aims of the act was to help prevent trouble spilling out on the streets at chucking out time and the solution writhen in to the act was the power for pubs and bars to be open 24 hours if they so wished.  The sting was that this privilege had to be applied for and once the council get the power to handle any application then problems occur straight away.  Councils being elected bodies that could be replaced quite easily every few years and who appoint officers to do the councils bidding and hide behind them.

Commonsence I'm afraid never really enters any councils debating chamber and certainly never prevails any councils policy.  For instance the act had the what is often referred to as the grand father rights element built in to it, thus insuring that every premises would at least retain the licensing terms that had before the act, therefore any change would be solely at the request of the landlords or pub companies.  Apply all you like for a change to your permitted hours, if your premises was out side the designated area for the terms you were applying for then you would not and did not get them.

The resaults being now that the vast majority of bars, pubs and clubs all end their days at about the same time, take my local town all 3 of the main town center pubs are licensed to 1.30 A.M. at weekends and another is licensed to 1 A.M. non got the hours they requested and they now still chuck out at the same time OK it may be a little later than before the act but it is still at the same time.  The council have also decided that at this time only one of the many establishments that would like to sell late night refreshments may be open to cope with influx of custom the other must close at 12 midnight.  That lucky establishment being the local kebab shop.

This zoning policy is repeated up and down the land and makes a mockery of the aims of the act.  Though it must be said to be fair that aperthy on the part of the incumbent landlords at the time of the implication of the act also payed its part.  Not only were the drinkers or this country conditioned and set in their ways when it came to having a night in the pub so were the pub managers 11 o' clocks late enough for throughout the week and 1 o'clock is plenty for at weekend.  The resaults very little change during the week and a load of pubs full of late night drunks at the weekend.  You can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink and the same applies to getting landlords to stagger their opening times.

The solution to this would have the relaxing of the licensing hours and a tightening of the licence controls in other words if a licence was granted to a premises then that premises should have been automatically allowed to open 24/7.  The stick being that the licensee would be expected to keep good order and full control both inside and outside his premises or quite simply face closure.  Today with all the bars and clubs still chucking out at about the same time all the customers of each establishment just blend in to one crowed and it is very hard to tell from which bar the trouble makers have emerged.

By allowing pubs and bars and even clubs to decided when or if to close would automatically stagger the closing time - if your busy and making easy money then you are far more likely to stay open.  on the flip side if you are quiet and not making money or the money you are taking is more trouble than its worth then the chances are you will close for the night, their would also be none of this - this place closes soon lets go to the one down the road, for it is open later attitude.  Customers would not know whether the next bar or club is open, closed or about to shut so they may feel inclined to stay where they are.

On Christmas I used this knowledge to my full advantage opening a soon as possible and doing my two hours safe in the knowledge that the pub down the road was going to open a full hour after I had closed.  This always gave me a nice empty pub in time for my families Christmas dinner and the pub down the road would have all the trouble of getting them out at "Time".  Indeed i would even point out that pubs opening times to empty my pub.