The Punch position: Licensing

Our licensees and pub managers in England and Wales have now been trading under the Licensing Act 2003 since its introduction in 2005. The Act offered greater flexibility over pub opening hours and many of our outlets are taking advantage of this opportunity, mainly with an extra hour or two on Friday and Saturday nights.
 
As we predicted, prior to the introduction of the new Act, longer trading hours have not encouraged excessive drinking or an increase in public disorder in or around pubs. Subsequent police reports have demonstrated drops in recorded violent crimes, reinforcing the professional and responsible approach adopted by the pub industry. What we have seen is a shift in trading patterns with people drinking similar amounts but over a longer period of time.  In some cases, pubs are also opening earlier to capitalise on the ‘café culture’, serving breakfast and morning coffee.
 
We are now in the process of submitting applications for new licenses in Scotland, which will go live in September 2009. Again, we are providing full support including workshops for all of our licensees in Scotland to ensure that they fully understand the requirements of the Act and the training requirements for their people.
 
As in England and Wales, we are looking forward to an improved and closer working relationship with local licensing authorities and the police in Scotland as a result of introducing the new licensing law.