Happy hour on the way for pubs, clubs and restaurants?

Thursday 04 February 2016

It looks like being 'last orders' for the system which regulates where and when we can drink alcohol, and how much we pay to do so.

The Licensing Law has been in place for 42 years, and gives the courts the power to control alcohol sales licences for pubs, clubs, restaurants, hotels and shops.

But now there are plans to create a new licensing authority made up of politicians instead, making decisions as part of an agreed alcohol policy. It's hoped the new system will remove some of the issues with the existing way of regulating alcohol, which prevents pubs and clubs from promoting offers such as 'buy-one-get-one-free' which are allowed in supermarkets, discounting drinks by more than 10% or offering 'happy hours' - despite paying higher fees to sell booze.

60% of the alcohol consumed in Jersey is bought in the shops, rather than from licensed premises such as pubs.

The changes are being led by the Assistant Chief Minister Paul Routier, and the Assistant Economic Development Minister Steve Pallett, who want to set up a new Alcohol and Licensing Policy Group (ALGP) that would set boundaries – like the minimum age to buy booze – and a Licensing Authority that would judge applications.

It all follows the controversial case of JB’s, a ping pong gastro-bar on Wharf Street, who had a bid to develop an alternative to St Helier nightclubs turned down by the existing licensing board of Jurats, - despite the backing of the police, the fire service, the Parish, the hospitality sector and Visit Jersey.

At the time, the owner of the Calvani Group, Marcus Calvani, who made the application, slammed Jersey’s ‘outdated’ licensing laws for rejecting the application after his company invested nearly £300,000, and spent four months preparing the project.

He said: “The licensing laws date back to 1974 and haven’t been updated since. We’re dealing with out of date laws and the world has moved on. The concepts of what people are trying to do in hospitality now don’t fit. We had a number of important applications in this week which were rejected by the licensing assembly despite overwhelming support from the parishioners of St. Helier and all the relevant bodies."

Speaking in the latest edition of Connect (which you can read in full here) Senator Routier said: “For really good reasons it is not appropriate for politicians to direct judges about what they should or should not do, and that is why if we want that coherent policy framework (for alcohol) we are establishing the licensing authority.

“The bulk of alcohol that is brought in the Island is brought in an off-licence.

“The issue with fees is currently about 60% of alcohol which is consumed is brought from off-licences and they have by far the cheapest fees.

“A large supermarket will pay the same as a small grocery store on a corner, and compared to a nightclub, which will probably be paying five or six times as much.

“That does not stack up because the supermarket is selling 60% of the alcohol and the restaurants, pubs and nightclubs are selling 40%. But the fees are totally out of kilter.”

St Brelade Constable Steve Pallett and St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft have been to Wales to take a look at their way of dealing with licensing applications to see if something similar would work here.