Licensing Act Policy Consultation

We asked: We asked members of the public, businesses/organisations, and statutory consultees for their feedback on the Joint Licensing Policy consultation. The policy was due a review, which resulted in updates to legislation and expansion to various sections of the policy to provide further detail and to add more clarity.

You said: A total of 30 responses were received, with the majority (80 per cent) from individuals/members of the public.

Level of agreement to the overall policy - respondents were asked how far they agree or disagree with the proposed Licensing Policy. The majority (73 per cent) expressed agreement, more specifically 53 per cent agreeing and 20 per cent strongly agreeing.

Frequently mentioned qualitative feedback - we asked respondents to provide their comments on the proposed Licensing Policy. 13 comments were received, with some resulting in additional amendments or additions to the policy which have been reviewed by the committees.

Other comments covered topics around national statutory guidance which cannot be amended by the councils, and retail of vapes which is not regulated by the licensing policy.

The Licensing Team is liaising separately with Public Health, one of the respondents, and that work will continue separate to the policy document itself and this will result in revised guidance and data (for example, relating to health, crime and antisocial behaviour) to help inform applicants about matters that may impact on their proposed business in an area.

Support for local businesses - we want to ensure we are supporting local businesses. The consultation included a section asking businesses/organisations to provide their feedback if they felt that any part of the licensing policy makes it harder for small businesses to succeed. Eight comments were received with the most frequently mentioned item being Martyn’s Law which is a legislative requirement and therefore not something being imposed by the Councils. Any information provided by the Government or the relevant regulator (the Security Industry Authority) will be shared as this becomes available.

The results of this consultation were presented to the councils' General Licensing Committees in January 2026 who made the final decision to adopt the policy in February 2026. You can find out more by viewing the consultation report and adopted Joint Licensing Policy.