Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:08 pm on 24 March 2003.
No, we do not agree with that. That amendment cuts right at the heart of the intention of the Bill. Remember that the statutory consultees who will be consulted on licence applications include a number of local authority departments or agencies, so the local authority will not be out of the consultation loop, but decisions on licensing should be made on the strength of representations, rather than being taken by the local authority without receipt of representations.