Cheek By Jowell - MP's Licensing Laws Will Cost Southwark Residents £375K A Year

1.33.15pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 31st Jan 2005

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell's controversial new 24-hour licensing laws are set to cost Southwark residents up to £374,000 a year. The figure was revealed by the Southwark Liberal Democrat group at last night's Council Assembly meeting and comes despite a pledge from Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott that 'spending pressures must be managed down and any new requirements placed on local government must be fully funded'.

Despite last week's last-minute increase in fees by Jowell's department in response to angry deputations by Southwark Council leader Cllr Nick Stanton and others, Southwark still expects to have spent £100,000 by the end of this financial year rising to £374,000 by the end of 2006/07.

Cllr Nick Stanton, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, said:

"I am disgusted that, yet again, council tax payers are bearing the cost for the Government's latest half-baked idea.

But it is a kick in the teeth for Southwark residents when it is the local MP who is responsible for this extra burden. It's bare-faced cheek on Tessa Jowell's part."

ENDS

Note to Editors:

1. John Prescott's pledge was made to colleagues at the Central Local Partnership Awayday, Leeds Castle, Kent 14/15 October 2004 (http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_localgov/documents/page/odpm_locgov_032812.doc)

2. The full question and answer, published at Council Assembly, is below

QUESTION TO THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL FROM COUNCILLOR DAVID HUBBER

What are the likely costs of introducing the new licensing laws and how much of this cost is being covered by the fees charged or the department of Culture Media and Sport?

RESPONSE

The additional cost incurred by the council this year, in preparing for the implementation of the Act is £115,000. None of this expenditure is covered by fees or in any other way by the department of culture media and sport (DCMS).

Despite the fact that the DCMS has always stated that it expects income generated to cover the costs of introducing the new legislation the indicative fee levels released by the new fees toward the end of 2004 suggested that the level of income would not be substantially higher than under the current regime. At that time officers estimated that the additional costs of implementing the new regime to be in the region of £340,000 in the period 2004 - 6 rising to £405,000 by the end of 2006/7

Last year I was part of a deputation by local government leaders to DCMS to argue that the fees needed to be increased to cover the cost to local authorities of introducing the licensing regime.

DCMS have now published a new fee structure on 21 January 2005, which is now subject to parliamentary procedures and includes:

A £100 to £635 one-off payment for a new licence - a rise on the previous proposal of £80 to £500, dependent on rateable value.

£70 to £350 for an annual fee - up from £40 to £225, again dependent on rateable value.

The largest town and city centre pubs paying two to three times as much for their initial application fee and annual charge - likely to be fewer than 6 in Southwark.

£37 for a personal licence

£21 for a temporary event notice.

Under the current system, licencees pay £30 every three years to magistrates for a basic licence to serve alcohol until 11pm, regardless of the size of the venue. Under the new system, the largest city or town centre pubs would pay a £1,905 initial application fee and a £1,050 annual fee.

Despite the welcome increase in fees an early analysis suggests that there will still be a net cost to the council of £277,000 in the period 2004 - 6 rising to £374,000 by the end of 2006/7, that is the net reduction of cost to the council by the introduction of the higher fees is in the region of only £60,000.