The UK Government has launched a consultation on the viability of alternatives to personal licences. If such a move to enable targeted, local alternatives was to prove successful it could put pressure on the Scottish Parliament to introduce similar methods. In a written ministerial statement the Minister of State for Crime Prevention, Jeremy Browne, said that extensive discussions with partners in the police, local government and the licensed trade during the recent Alcohol Strategy consultation suggested that the current system may not always be the most targeted and proportionate way to ensure alcohol is sold responsibly. “For example, all premises must comply with the system regardless of whether it is locally appropriate or not,” he wrote. As a result, the consultation proposes enabling targeted, local alternatives to personal licences through locally applied conditions to premises licences. Browne estimated that this proposal could save businesses around £10m a year if taken forward, while keeping a focus on measures to tackle crime and disorder at licensed premises. Browne added: “In particular, the Government is seeking views on whether it would cut costs for businesses and maintain appropriate safeguards against crime and disorder at premises.”
