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The Publican Comment

'Some licensees still don't know they need to apply for their new licences'

The weather. It's a classic British obsession.
And weather forecasters don't seem any nearer to getting it right today than they were on the famous occasion in October 1987 when they failed to predict the biggest storm to hit in decades. "Storm? What storm?" said the unfortunate Michael Fish on live TV, mere hours before a massive hurricane flattened the south.

Skipping neatly to 2005, "Crisis? What crisis?" seemed to be the message this week at a conference on licensing reform, where civil servant Andrew Cunningham sought to reassure delegates that reform was on track.

However, he neatly sidestepped fears that as many as four in 10 licensees will not have their licence in place by the deadline.
There are still licensees out there who don't know they need to apply for their new licences.

What about some of the more obscure sectors? The late-night burger vans, the kebab houses and takeaways? One pub industry source even told me recently that when he asked a leading light in the restaurant trade how the form-filling was going it became apparent that this leading light did not know restaurants were included in the legislation!

Judging by this, and the constant stream of letters we receive each week asking for guidance and advice on the new system, I would say this is not a time for resting on laurels.

The focus for all concerned has to be on keeping licensees as up-to-date as possible on the reforms, offering guidance to those filling out applications, and publicising the new laws as widely as possible to ensure no-one misses the application deadline.
Burying your head in the sand won't help when the police come knocking with a closure order.
Caroline Nodder, Editor
carolinen@thepublican.com
30 June 2005