Abstract

This research article critically engages with the Licensing Act (2003), arguing for a more holistic approach to licensing. Drawing on primary research conducted in London for the Greater London Authority (GLA), the article considers the benefits of licensed venues and the possibility of extending current licensing objectives to recognise the role of these venues in sustaining urban vitality. The current licensing objectives are geared towards minimising negative outcomes, the assumption being that licensing is primarily a tool of control, with the role of minimising harm. The argument developed here is based on two alternative conceptions of the role of licensing. Firstly, licensing has a key role to play in developing sites for sociability and community cohesion. Though focused around alcohol, licensing is central to enabling or constraining more traditional as well as emerging spaces which combine entertainment, dining and other experimental forms of leisure. Second, the article argues that by addressing urban vitality and cultural benefit, the Act could be more attuned to the positive influence of licensed premises on a broader scale. The need for planning and licensing to work more cooperatively is considered in light of how licensing decisions reach beyond individual venues and impact on entire neighbourhoods or areas. Focusing on two London boroughs, Croydon and Lambeth, the paper examines how the current approach to licensing by local authorities could therefore be re-framed in more positive terms to acknowledge the wider cultural benefits and social good of licensed premises.

Highlights

  • This article begins from the premise that licensing has a key role to play in sustaining and enabling the development of the ‘cultural milieu’ and vitality of towns and cities

  • Despite having a role to play in enabling culture and urban vitality, the licensing objectives at the head of the Act were restricted to: 1. the prevention of crime and disorder; 2. the prevention of public nuisance; 3. public safety; and 4. the protection of children from harm

  • From this comparative analysis it was possible to draw conclusions as to the economic benefit of the evening and night-time economy (ENTE) in each area, review how licensing decisions and appeals were being addressed, detail the economic impact of the local ENTE and examine how licensing and planning were shaping the development of nightlife

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Summary

Introduction

This article begins from the premise that licensing has a key role to play in sustaining and enabling the development of the ‘cultural milieu’ and vitality of towns and cities. The four licensing objectives, do not make explicit the role of urban culture or cultural development. Entertainment, urban vitality and sociability are beyond the explicit remit of licensing legislation, this legislation is clearly entwined with cultural and social outcomes. Licensing reform passed from control by the Home Office, whose main objective was the reduction of alcohol-related crime and disorder, to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2001. As well as the management of alcohol licensing, the Act covered entertainment, defined in the Act’s Schedule 1 to include live and recorded music, theatre, opera, dance and film as well as sport. Despite having a role to play in enabling culture and urban vitality, the licensing objectives at the head of the Act were restricted to: 1. Despite having a role to play in enabling culture and urban vitality, the licensing objectives at the head of the Act were restricted to: 1. the prevention of crime and disorder; 2. the prevention of public nuisance; 3. public safety; and 4. the protection of children from harm

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