As the act stands, there isn't a great incentive for the LAs to rush to write their policies. Some, like Greenwich, who've been charging over the odds for licenses, will probably be sorry to see the system change. All of them will have to put expensive new procedures in place and LAs are experts at stretching things out when they want to. The government itself is getting cold feet about the extension or abolition of licensing laws. Landlords in most cases think "Better the Devil we know" than this new system.

I think that there's quite a possibility that the act will never be fully implemented - in which case let's try and make sure that the bits which are, are not detrimental to what we want.