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Consultation: Alcohol in licensed pavement areas

During the pandemic, the government passed regulations covering England and Wales, allowing premises licensed to serve alcohol for consumption on their ...

Key summary

During the pandemic, regulations allowed premises licensed to serve alcohol on-site in England and Wales to sell alcohol for take away.

These regulations allowed for drinking in licensed pavement areas ('off-sales').

The pandemic-related regulations expire in March 2025.

The consultation presents permanent options for alcohol licensing after March 2025.

The three options aim to make it easier for premises to sell alcohol in licensed pavement areas.

The three options aim to ensure local residents continue to have a say.

The impact assessment acknowledges that licensing conditions might be used to avoid noise problems.

The consultation is open until July 11th.

Consultation: Alcohol in licensed pavement areas

External resources

During the pandemic, the government passed regulations covering England and Wales, allowing premises licensed to serve alcohol for consumption on their premises (on-site) to sell alcohol for take away and to drink in licensed pavement areas (‘off-sales’), if they had a pavement license, without changing their license. This allowed pubs and restaurants to continue to trade when they couldn't serve customers indoors. These regulations expire in March 2025, and this consultation sets out permanent options for alcohol licensing after this date. The three options presented aim  “to make it easier for premises to sell alcohol for consumption in a licensed pavement area, whilst ensuring that licensing authorities and local residents continue to have a say about what happens in their area”. The impact assessment acknowledges that licensing conditions might be used, if necessary to avoid noise problems at night in a residential neighbourhood.  The consultation is open until July 11th.