Violent Crime Reduction Act update

1. Police powers to request reviews

The VCRA inserts s.53A into the Licensing Act 2003 allowing the police to request a summary review of a premises licence in 'serious cases of crime or disorder'.

Process

1. 'Senior member' of police force gives a certificate to the Chief Officer of Police for that area stating that a premises is associated with serious crime or serious disorder or both

2. The Chief Officer of Police sends an application to the Licensing Authority for a review of that licence. The application must be accompanied by the certificate as above.

3. Licensing Authority must, within 48 hours, consider whether to take 'interim steps'. These steps could be:

(a) the modification of the conditions of the premises licence;

(b) the exclusion of the sale of alcohol by retail from the scope of the licence;

(d) the suspension of the licence.

4. The Licensing Authority must, within 28 days of the application, hold a review hearing and reach a determination. At the hearing, the steps the committee could take are as follows:

(a) the modification of the conditions of the premises licence,

(b) the exclusion of a licensable activity from the scope of the licence,

(d) the suspension of the licence for a period not exceeding three months, or

(e) the revocation of the licence

Once the application is made (stage 2 above) the Licensing Authority must notify all responsible authorities and the premises licence holder that the application has been made. This must be done within 48 hours of the application being made. If the premises licence holder makes a representation against any interim steps taken pending the hearing, the Licensing Authority must hold a hearing within 48 hours.

2. Persistently Selling Alcohol to Children

The Act also created a new offence of Persistently Selling Alcohol to Children. This offence can only be committed by the premises licence holder or premises user under a temporary events notice. It is committed when on three separate occasions in a period of three consecutive months, alcohol is sold to a person under the age of 18 from the same premises.

No due diligence defence is available to this charge. A conviction, caution or fixed penalty notice can be used as evidence that each sale took place.

The offence carries a fine of up to £10,000 if convicted. The court which convicts the premises licence holder may order that the premises licence be suspended for a period not exceeding three months.

The Act makes provision for the police or trading standards to serve a 'closure notice' on a premises under this section if:

a police officer of the rank of superintendent or above or a trading standards officer considers that there is evidence that a person has committed the above offence and

that officer considers that there would be a realistic prospect of a conviction if the offence was prosecuted.

The closure notice is a notice which proposes a prohibition on the sale of alcohol from a premises for a period not exceeding 48 hours.

If the premises licence holder accepts the prohibition proposed (ie. agrees to stop selling alcohol for the specified period) he cannot then be prosecuted for the offence of persistently selling in respect of the sales which led the officer to serve the notice.

3. Alcohol Disorder Zones

The Act made provision for the creation of Alcohol Disorder Zones. These are zones within which the holders of premises licence may be charged a fee each month to contribute towards the policing of disorder within the zone.

The regulations for these zones passed through Parliament in May 2008 and the first Zones may well be designated later in the year.