Clause 8 - Exercise and delegation of functions
Licensing Bill [Lords]
3:30 pm
Dr Kim Howells (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Pontypridd, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman is making a serious attempt to rewrite the way in which local authorities work, but it is beyond the scope of the Bill to do so. He is trying to create a model of excellence that could be replicated elsewhere. The trouble is that I am unsure whether many of us agree with his model.
Lying behind the amendments is a fear that local authorities cannot be fully trusted to discharge their licensing and other statutory functions properly. As I have made clear, I do not share those concerns and I am worried that the amendments would limit the ability of local authorities to carry out those functions in an efficient and timely manner, and in the best interests of the community that they serve.
As drafted, the Bill allows licensing authorities in respect of a matter to refer the discharge of licensing functions to other local authority committees where that matter relates to the discharge of another local authority function as well as to the licensing function. In addition, it allows licensing committees to consider matters that cut across other local authority functions. Furthermore, unless the urgency of a particular case precludes it, where matters that touch on licensing are referred to another committee, that committee must consider a report from the licensing committee before reaching a decision.
Those arrangements will ensure that the licensing committee will have the necessary input, while allowing authorities the freedom to decide how best to discharge their functions. Amendments Nos. 100, 94 and 93 would undermine that position, and could lead to unnecessary delays in the exercising of licensing and in other functions of an authority.
Amendment No. 95 would require that where there is a conflict of interest preventing a number of members of the licensing committee from discharging a function, it must be referred back to the licensing
authority. I acknowledge that our position has changed since the publication of the White Paper—I was waiting for the hon. Member for Isle of Wight to say that, but he did not.