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.
Full consultation
