Policing and Crime Bill
4:00 pm
James Brokenshire (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Hornchurch, Conservative)
The category B conditions are local measures that could be applied in areas where there is concern about anti-social behaviour or nuisance—the kind of issues that are one of the licensing principles, if I may put it like that. The issue here is that if a particular venue is said to be causing disruption, you can effectively seek a licensing review under the existing powers of Licensing Act 2003. In other words, the local authority can review the licence and additional conditions can be imposed. The category B requirements seem to have the potential to fetter local authorities, saying they are only able to impose the conditions prescribed by the Home Secretary. What is the Local Government Association’s view of the interrelationship between the existing Licensing Act review provisions and the proposals of this second limb of the mandatory code, with these additional conditions that local authorities could apply?