Licensing (No.17) (Jersey) Regulations 201-

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A decision made on 21 February 2011:

Decision Reference: MD-E-2011-0025
Decision Summary Title :	Licensing (No. 17) (Jersey) Regulations 201- An extension to the hours during which licensed premises in Jersey are permitted to sell alcohol.		Date of Decision Summary:	18th February 2011
Decision Summary Author:	Strategy Manager, Policy and Regulation		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Licensing (No. 17) (Jersey) Regulations 201- An extension to the hours during which licensed premises in Jersey are permitted to sell alcohol.		Date of Written Report:	18th February 2011
Written Report Author:	Law Draftsman’s Office and Strategy Manager, Policy and Regulation		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Draft Licensing (Amendment No.17) (Jersey) Regulations 201-
Decision(s): The Minister approved the draft Licensing (Amendment No.17) (Jersey) Regulations 201- . The purpose of the draft Regulations is to provide an extension to the hours during which licensed premises in Jersey are permitted to sell alcohol on the occasion of the wedding of His Royal Highness Prince William and Miss Kate Middleton on 29th April 2011, and the following day. The Minister requested that they be lodged ‘au Greffe’ forthwith and with a view to securing a debate during the meeting of the States commencing 5th April 2010.
Reason(s) for Decision: To celebrate the occasion of the wedding of HRH Prince William and Miss Middleton, The draft Regulations would extend the permitted hours of Category 1 (Taverners) and Category 2 (Residential) licensed premises from 11.00pm to 1.00am on the nights of 29th and 30th April 2011 and are in keeping with a decision taken by the UK Home Secretary under section 172 of the UK Licensing Act 2003 to mark an occasion of 'exceptional international, national or local significance'.
Resource Implications: Although this decision would not extend the overall time during which alcohol can be served (as many premises can normally remain open until 1am and several until 2am) it is recognised that there may be resource implications for the States of Jersey Police Force.
Action required: To approve the draft Regulations and the accompanying report and for the documents to be lodged au Greffe so as to allow the draft Regulations to be debated by the States at the earliest opportunity.
Signature: Senator A.J.H.Maclean		Position: Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Licensing (No.17) (Jersey) Regulations 201-

Licensing (No. 17) (Jersey) Regulations 201-

Accompanying report

Background

In order to mark the occasion of the forthcoming Royal wedding on 29th April, the Economic Development Minister has decided to bring Regulations to the States which, if accepted, would amend the Licensing (Jersey) Law 1974 (the Licensing Law) to allow patrons of licensed premises to be served alcohol until 1am on the nights of Friday 29th and Saturday 30th April.

This is in keeping with the position adopted by the UK Home Office.

A comparable (but much more extensive) extension has been granted in the past to mark the millennium. On 28th September 1999 the States approved P.134/1998 - ‘Licensing (No. 13) (Jersey) Regulations 1999’ (the millennium Regulations), which had the effect of extending the hours of all licences throughout the night of the millennium.

Licences affected

Given the short duration of the extension in this case, not all licences will be affected. Only Category 1 (Taverners) and Category 2 (Residential) licences will be temporarily extended.

Category 1 (Taverners) licences allow patrons to be served alcohol until 11.00pm (with 20 minutes ‘drinking-up time’). These licences will be extended by two hours, and so will run until 1.00am, with 20 minutes ‘drinking-up time’ as normal. In keeping with the usual treatment of New Year under the Licensing Law [1], patrons will then have an additional 10 minutes to vacate the premises.

Category 2 (Residential) licences already allow patrons to be served alcohol until 1.00am. They are restricted, however, in that members of the public may not enter these premises after 11.00pm. In order to ensure the equitable treatment of premises, the Regulations would allow people to enter these premises until 1.00am.

Category 3 (Restaurant), 4 (Comprehensive), 5 (Club) and 7 (Entertainment) licences already have permitted times which run up to or beyond 1.00am, and so no extension for those licences is included.

Category 6 (Off-licence) licences will not be affected by the Regulations.

Some categories of licence have restrictions beyond those detailed in the Licensing Law. For instance, although Category 3 licences allow sales of alcohol until 1.00am, imposed conditions could limit the operation of the restaurant to 11.00pm. A temporary change to the Licensing Law will not affect these conditions, and so if a businesses is limited in this way its opening hours will not change. The Minister considers that these conditions are imposed for a reason, often to protect residents near such businesses, and it would not be appropriate to modify those conditions even were it a simple matter to do so (which it is not).

Method and extent of extension

Given the large number of premises potentially affected, it would not be appropriate for the Licensing Assembly or the Judicial Greffe to deal independently with each application for an extension. Therefore the Regulations will allow the extension of licences to take place automatically, without licensees needing to take any action.

Although the extension affects the hours during which premises are permitted to trade or allow persons to enter, there is no requirement for licensees to remain open or to admit customers.

Pubs which wish to close at 11.00pm will be able to do so, and similarly hotels which wish to stop admitting members of the public after 11.00pm will be able to do so. Additionally, if a pub or hotel wanted to stop serving at, for instance, 12.00am that would be a matter for the licensee.

Notification

If these Regulations are adopted, the Judicial Greffe will publish a notice in the Jersey Gazette to inform licensees and the public of the temporary changes to permitted hours.

The Economic Development Department will work with the industry and other stakeholders to ensure that all parties are fully informed.

Resource Implications

Although this decision would not extend the overall time during which alcohol can be served (as many premises can normally remain open until 1am and several until 2am) it is recognised that there may be resource implications for the States of Jersey Police Force.

[1] Article 25 (1)(a) and 26 of the Licensing (Jersey) Law 1974