The Magistrates' Association welcomes the current government action to review the 2003 Licensing Act. Our members deal with the consequences of alcohol consumption on a daily basis.
There are now more women in custody for acts of violence than any other offence group. This may not be entirely unrelated to the changes in the regulation of alcohol that started with the Better Regulation Task Force Report in the early 1990s and ended in the passing of the 2003 Licensing Act.
John Thornhill, Chairman of the Magistrates’ Association said, “The Magistrates’ Association always believed that transferring control of licensing to local councils and away from the courts was a mistake. There has been a failure to produce any national control over personal licence holders and this has resulted in a more expensive and less satisfactory system than before the Act came into force”.
The Association would urge the government to seriously consider returning control and management of the licensing of premises back to magistrates’ courts.
