Greg Mulholland-Working Hard For Leeds North WestLICENCE APPLICATIONS HEADING FOR LOGJAM: MULHOLLAND
July 29, 2005 12:00 AM
Greg Mulholland, Member of Parliament for Leeds North West, has responded to the looming deadline on licence applications, calling the possibility that few premises in Leeds North West will have the new licenses 'very worrying'.
It has been estimated that only one third of premises in Leeds have applied for the new licenses, yet according to the Licensing Department, as few as 10% of premises in Leeds have applied. Despite this, James Purnell, the Minister responsible for the new licensing regime, has defended the 2003 Licensing Act recently calling it "a good piece of legislation".
The Liberal Democrats pledged in their Party Manifesto to delay the Licensing Act, as premises, police and councils were deemed not ready to fully implement the new system. The deadline for applications is Saturday 6 August, by which time all applications for the new licence must have been received by the Licensing Department.
Commenting, Greg said:
"As opposed to focusing on the problem of 24 hour drinking, we should be more concerned by the fact that at this rate, only 1% of pubs will be able to serve alcohol by autumn."
"Although binge-drinking is definitely something that urgently needs to be dealt with, the way in which the Government has gone about this is dreadful. Labour's botched laws for longer licensing hours have not given the industry, Leeds City Council or the police time to prepare."
"The prospect that some premises are likely to stop trading is very worrying. The implementation of the Government Licensing Act needs to be delayed to prevent this from happening. That the Minister has called this "a good piece of legislation" is ridiculous."
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