ACS

ACS has welcomed the coming into force of the new rules for alcohol licence holders wanting to make minor variations to their shop or procedures.

ACS has been working as a key Government stakeholder to achieve this small but important change to the law since 2005.

ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said:”The minor variation procedure will save retailers money, by allowing them to make small changes to the way they run their premises without going through mounds of red tape.”

The cost of the new process will be less than £100 – compared to the previous average fee of around £225. Under the new system the applicant will fill in a short form, pay a flat rate of £89 and will wait no more than 15 days for a response, against 28 days at present.

Mr Lowman continued: “Retailers will still be reliant on the interpretations of licensing officers in understanding exactly what kinds of changes they can do through minor variation and which they can’t, but we expect most shops to see the benefit.

“Our one frustration is that the change will definitely not be applicable to licensing hour changes, even minor changes like extending alcohol licence hours by a couple of hours in the morning. This would have been beneficial to retailers and customers.

ACS was part of the working group led by Department for Culture Media and Sport that oversaw the change. The new rules came into force from 29th July 2009.