The Licensing Hours Extension Bill moves to Royal Assent

The Licensing Hours Extensions Bill has passed its final reading in the House of Lords, having already passed through the House of Commons. It applies in England and Wales.

This short Bill, which will now proceed to Royal Assent, will allow the government to act more quickly when extending licensing hours for moments of national significance, for example major football events and Royal Weddings. It amends the Licensing Act 2003 to allow the Secretary of State to extend licensing hours via a negative resolution statutory instrument, rather than the more time-consuming affirmative procedure.

Readers may recall the debacle of the Women’s World Cup final in 2023 when, under the current legislation, the government had not given itself enough parliamentary time to extend the hours for licensed premises in England and Wales to be open to sell alcohol on Sunday morning, when the match was taking place. This prompted quite an outcry and some very creative interpretations of licensing law by some authorities, who were put in an unenviable position by ministers to do their utmost to allow punters to have a pint whilst watching the game.

Currently, these national extensions require a certain number of weeks’ notice and/or debate in Parliament before they are approved. The Licensing Hours Extensions Bill, once it comes into force, will allow the Secretary of State to make an Extensions Order quickly, whilst preserving Parliament’s ability to intervene if necessary.

The Bill can be found here.