Birmingham praised for Broad Street Crime initiatives.

Birmingham, and in particular the Broad Street BID area is praised in the latest Government Consultation on the Licensing Act for introducing crime reduction initiatives that make the public feel safer. According to the Consultation, Broad Street BID has developed town centre wardens, taxi marshalls and cleaning to tackle litter. During BIDs first year there was a 60% reduction in general crime and a 28% reduction in violent crime

These comments follow on from the release of the Governments latest Consultation document on reviewing the Licensing Act. This has arisen as part of the view that town centres are blighted by crime and disorder driven by irresponsible binge drinking.

One of the headline grabbing proposals is a ban on sales of alcohol below cost price. After the release of the Consultation David Cameron said last week that proposals by ten local authorities in and around Manchester to introduce a by-law to impose minimum pricing per unit would be looked at ‘very sympathetically’. He went on to say that he did not want to introduce a national price limit but was welcoming to local councils dealing with local issues. These proposals would almost certainly lead to problems in Brussels following a European court ruling earlier this year.

But the Consultation, launched at the start of the summer holidays and giving only 6 weeks for response, contains many proposals which seem to go far beyond the headlines. Peter Adkins handles Licensing issues at Sydney Mitchell LLP and has been appointed by the Birmingham Law Society to chair a committee to respond to the Licensing Consultation.

Peter comments. ’Most Premises selling alcohol are responsibly run, but with these proposals the Government is in danger of punishing the many for the ills of the few. The idea of pubs offering 24 hour drinking is largely a myth, the major problem is the sale of cheap alcohol by the supermarkets and customers ‘pre-loading’ with cheap alcohol before they reach the Pubs. The Pubs then pick up the bill for any resulting trouble so it is good to see the government addressing this. But the proposals go further including forcing premises which are open later to pay more , making it easier for the local licensing authority to object to licences, giving added weight to representations from the police and removing the need for an objector to a licence to live in the vicinity – effectively allowing anyone, anywhere to object.’

Also included are proposals for involving local health bodies in Licensing applications by making health one of the licensing objectives. There are also changes to the appeals procedure and a doubling of the maximum fine for those found persistently selling alcohol to children all feature as well.

‘The licensed trade is losing pubs at an alarming rate. Whilst poorly run premises will always have problems, these proposals suggest that the problem resides with the vast majority of outlets. This is simply not the case, publicans know that if they become known as trouble spots their trade suffers and they will eventually be closed down. Birmingham has taken steps and the BID shows what can be done if outlets trade responsibly and collectively. Clearly the Government feels some steps need to be taken, but many of these seem to be too much too soon’

The new Licensing Committee will be responding to the Consultation Paper released entitled ‘Rebalancing the Licensing Act’. Other proposals, include an overhaul of the system of Temporary Event Notices and allowing local authorities to set their own fees.

Commenting on the formation of the Licensing Committee, President of Birmingham Law Society, Dean Parnell said, "We are very pleased that someone of Peter’s calibre has taken on this new role. The Committees within BLS perform an incredibly important role and they are key to our organisations continuing success". The responses to the Consultation need to be in by 8^th September 2010 and if anyone would like to contribute Peter Adkins would be very pleased to hear from them.