News Archive

Drinking Hours

by msecadm4921

Bars, clubs and pubs can now apply for more ‘flexible’ trading hours – including 24-hour opening.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport claim that the move ‘heralds the beginning of the end for our outdated licensing laws’.

Although the new regime does not begin until November, bar owners can now make applications to open for longer if they wish. But police and local residents will, for the first time, be able to challenge every new licence application.

What they say

Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell said: "We are not, and never have, promoted 24-hour drinking – that is a myth. We are promoting flexible hours to reduce violence at last orders.

"This will put a long-needed end to the double madness of people gulping two or three rounds of drinks to beat last orders and then all being chucked out at the same time.

"The vast majority of people should be treated like the adults they are. It is ridiculous that the Government should deny the entire population the right to a drink after 11pm."

ACPO line

Commenting on the issue, Chris Allison, ACPO spokesman on licensing and a Commander in the Metropolitan Police, said: "There are many good parts of the new Licensing Act which ACPO fully support and we look forward to making use of our new powers that will help us to deal with crime and disorder.
"However, ACPO continues to have concerns about extending the hours during which people can drink given the culture of excessive drinking that already pervades our society. Over the last few years, we have already seen premises being allowed to open later and later. At the same time, we have seen a sharp increase in alcohol fuelled violence and antisocial behaviour, this being as a direct result of a culture of drinking to excess. ACPO is pleased that the evidence that the police service put forward has been listened to and is currently considering its response to the Government’s ‘Drinking Responsibly’ consultation document.

"We are never going to solve this problem through enforcement alone, as enforcement only deals with the symptom and not the cause. ACPO continues to stress the importance of a far more holistic approach that includes dealing with the culture of excessive drinking and the need for all of the drinks industry to adopt a responsible attitude. Our fear is that we will never solve the problem if we do not address its underlying causes and in the meantime, the police service will have to divert more and more resources to deal with the ever increasing levels of drunken thuggery that blight our cities, towns and villages every week."

Related News

  • News Archive

    SIA Op

    by msecadm4921

    The latest Security Industry Authority (SIA) wide-scale random compliance checks took place across Cambridgeshire, West Midlands, North East England and Scotland on…

  • News Archive

    Gulf Museum

    by msecadm4921

    AMG Systems, the CCTV company, has been shortlisted in the International Achievement category for this year’s Security Excellence Awards. The project cited…

  • News Archive

    Racism Warning

    by msecadm4921

    Three European human rights bodies have expressed concern that the current economic crisis is beginning to fuel racist and xenophobic intolerance. The…

Newsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay on top of security news and events.

© 2024 Professional Security Magazine. All rights reserved.

Website by MSEC Marketing