Alcohol Licensing Update - Deadlines are back for Reporting Agencies

The Epidemic Notice finally expires today (20 October 2022) after coming into force in March 2020. This is welcome relief for those who are trying to obtain or renew alcohol licences.

The expiry of the Notice means that timeframes will be once again imposed on the Police and Medical Officer of Health to report on applications within a specified statutory period.

The reporting timeframes under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2002 effectively vanished when the Epidemic Preparedness (Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012—Licence Application Inquiries) Immediate Modification Order 2020 was passed under urgency. The concern of the government was that resources of the Police and the Medical Officer of Health would be required in the response to Covid and therefore the requirement to report on applications within 15 working days was removed. Instead, they only needed to report within 30 working days after the Epidemic Preparedness (COVID-19) Notice 2020 expired. No one could have predicted this would be nearly three years later.

As a result of the removal of the timeframes we have experienced significant delays in receiving reports from the reporting agencies. On one occasion a report was received five months after the application was filed. The result of these delays has meant increased costs for clients and a lack of certainty. For new licences it has meant a loss of trading income.

As of 21 October 2022 all new applications filed will need to be reported on within 15 working days of the Police and Medical Officer of Health receiving them. All current applications will need to be reported on by 2 December 2022.

This is welcome relief for a struggling hospitality sector but again it could be too little too late for some operators who have been severely hampered by Covid restrictions.

If you need assistance with an alcohol licence please contact Anna Suckling or Sarah Rawcliffe in our Specialist Alcohol Licensing Team.

This article is current as at the date of publication and is only intended to provide general comments about the law. Harkness Henry accepts no responsibility for reliance by any person or organisation on the content of the article. Please contact the author of the article if you require specific advice about how the law applies to you.