Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee

This was quite a brief meeting.  It included the quarterly report of licensing activity which was presented ably and usefully as ever by Julian Alison, the City Council Licensing Manager.

Most of the meeting focussed on discussion of the government proposals to deregulate lots of forms of licensable entertainment.  While I welcome reduction of red tape I do feel the current regime does give the City Council some very useful and effective tools to make sure the right balance between people's right to quiet enjoyment of their homes and licence-holders' rights to run their businesses.  I don't feel the City Council over-uses or abuses this at the moment.

In principle while I support deregulating where it is safe to do so, I am clear that local authorities do need to have sufficient legislation behind them to be able to properly balance the needs of all people in this City be they those who want to party into the small hours or those that want to sleep in the small hours so they can study or work in the morning.

I do welcome any change that will allow schools, colleges, Universities, charities etc. to be less hindered by legislation when they want to run what are essentially low-risk problem-free events but I do worry about losing control over some bigger and more problematic venues and/or events.  You can read about the proposed changes on the Department for Culture Media and Sport's web site.