News Residents Group given permission for the Judicial Review of Hackney council’s licensing policy

Council’s decision to implement revised policy to be scrutinised

Date: 22 March 2019
Author/Solicitor: Lisa Sharkey

“You may recall from our eNews back in October 2018 that a residents group was seeking a Judicial Review of the revised Statement of Licensing Policy (SoLP) for Hackney Council.

The revised SoLP , which was approved by Hackney Council back in July 2018, introduced a ‘core hours’ policy limiting operational hours to 11pm on weekdays and midnight at weekends. It also imposed a curfew of 10pm for any external areas

“We Love Hackney”, a non – profit organisation, has now been granted permission by a High Court Judge to pursue the review.

The campaigners argue that Hackney Council failed to have due regard to the public sector equality duty, contrary to the Equality Act. On the Crowd Justice website being used to raise funds for the action, We Love Hackney state that the council failed to consider the impact of the revised policy on young people or the late night venues serving the LGBTQ+ community in the area.

We will continue to watch this one with interest and will keep you updated via eNews”