Licensing Act pulls punches for Leeds businesses, warns legal expert

The Licensing Act

05/12/2006

The Yorkshire lawyer representing Leeds nightclub the Birdcage in the country's first judicial review under the Licensing Act this week is calling for a re-evaluation of the legislation, one year on, after his client was forced to reduce its opening hours as the result of a closure order.

Peter Bell, a legal consultant with national law firm Irwin Mitchell, based at its offices in Queen Street, Leeds, and one of the region's foremost experts on licensing laws, is currently preparing for the hearing on December 7. He believes his client, based in Boar Lane, is just one of a number of city nightspots experiencing problems after the Licensing Act raised several points requiring clarification.

Licensing laws

He said: "The stark reality is that the Licensing Act has not been as rosy as originally anticipated by businesses in Leeds. As the Birdcage case demonstrates, a number of problems have arisen through its enforcement, particularly in relation to closure orders, police powers and recording incidents, and we would like to see judicial clarification of these areas.

"Our client's prominent position on Boar Lane makes it a usual marker for police when sending officers to disturbances, as it helps them quickly locate offenders. However, under the Licensing Act, the police record all activity as attributable to the Birdcage if it is mentioned, even when just as a locator, with the trouble occurring far away from the venue.

"This has led to badly skewed statistics wrongly identifying our client as the worst offender in Leeds, when it has taken measures to eliminate underage drinking, drugs and weapons, unlike some other pubs and clubs in the city."

Opening hours at the Birdcage were ordered by the Licensing Committee to be reduced following a 10 hour closure order issued by police after a totally unpredictable domestic assault occurred in March.

Licensing legal advice

Mr Bell said: "Our client's staff acted quickly and appropriately to control the situation and cooperated fully with the police, however, an inspector arriving late at the scene, ordered a closure order without surveying the situation. This automatically triggered a review of the license.

"Under the Act we can appeal against the closure order to the Magistrates and Crown Court, but even if it's overturned, its' effect in triggering a licence review remains. Applying for a judicial review was the only opportunity for us to have the closure order quashed, clear the Birdcage's name and reinstate its desired opening hours, but this has never been done before.

"Whilst all appeals are pending, the existing licensing conditions continue to apply and the Order of the Licensing Committee stands in abeyance, nevertheless the uncertainty is not good for anyone."

Mr Bell said another problem was the way appeals to magistrates were operated.

Licensing law firm

He said: "License hearings have almost turned into public inquiries, with magistrates inviting communities to be involved. Whilst it's important their opinions are heard, it's lengthening proceedings considerably and incurring huge expenses, which unsuccessful licensees have to cover. In public inquiries, costs are never assigned to organisations involved."

Mr Bell also said the Licensing Act had failed to reduce the amount of red tape businesses in Leeds had to deal with.

He said: "There is a lack of flexibility within the provisions, which is creating more paper work. For example, a venue with a license allowing background music would have to apply for a completely new license if it wanted to introduce occasional live music. This is both time consuming and costly.

"While it's possibly still too early to see the Licensing Act's impact on our binge drinking culture, the courts need to address the problems it's unfairly causing responsible businesses."

Any companies concerned about how the Licensing Act is affecting their business can contact Irwin Mitchell on 0870 1500 100.