Clause 3 - Licensing authorities
Licensing Bill [Lords]
9:30 am
Mr John Grogan (Selby, Labour)
I rise to support the Government amendments. The Minister made a powerful case for a database. There has been a change in emphasis since the debate in the other place. That debate has made a difference: the Government are thinking again.
I chaired a meeting of the all-party beer group, which assessed some of the discussions in the House of Lords, in particular this issue. The meeting involved the police and the Local Government Association as well as the industry. They agreed to make a joint approach to the Department in favour of a national database, particularly for personal licences.
The case for a database for personal licences is stronger than it is for premises licences. Local authorities know the premises licences in their area. However, a personal licensee may move around the country five or six times in the course of their career.
I hope that this work, which is led by the LGA, will make rapid progress. A central licensing authority would be unnecessarily burdensome. As I have a majority of just 2,000, I am always on the lookout for what I might do if I lost my seat and being chairman of a national licensing authority has a certain appeal. The authority would be unnecessarily burdensome, however. The database is the key.
With regard to later amendments, the idea of setting up a committee of the police, the local authorities and
the industry to try to find a way forward is a model that might be followed in other areas.