Pints to takeaway will no longer be permitted after March 31, 2025 (Image: Supplied)
A major change to pub licence rules will take effect from April 1 in what has been branded an “incredibly disappointing” move. During the height of the pandemic, pub and bar rules were changed to allow drinkers to buy alcohol to take away or order takeaway drinks to be delivered from their local boozer. It was a lifeline for pubs at the time, who couldn’t open their doors for extended periods of lockdown and even when open were often hit by social distancing rules.
The temporary ‘easement’ of licensing rules allowed pubs to sell takeaway drinks, but the condition is set to lapse on March 31, and the government has not announced any plans to renew it. When the regulations were extended in 2023, CAMRA’s chief executive Tom Stainer welcomed the move, stating: “It’s a good sign that the Government has listened and decided to backtrack on their plans to end the automatic permission for pubs to make off-sales.
“We hope that they have also been listening very carefully to the trade and consumers, who are also calling for a relaxation of the new tax rules around draught takeaway sales, which restrict many publicans from selling takeaway beer and cider regardless of whether their licence allows them to do so”, reports .
Despite a consultation launched by the previous Government from May 16, 2024, to July 11, 2024, the rule will end on March 31.
The change has sparked fury from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), which slammed the move as “incredibly disappointing” and “unsupported by evidence”.
A spokesman for the BBPA said: “On behalf of our members, who account for approximately 20,000 pubs across the UK, we supported options that would have made the temporary easement permanent, so we are incredibly disappointed at the Government’s decision.
“We have seen no evidence that this easement has created any widespread issues since it was introduced. Instead it has helped to boost trade for pubs and therefore the economy as a whole, so this move will layer more cost and administrative burdens on pubs and local authorities.
“We would urge the Prime Minister to reconsider the impact of this move because it will undermine their growth mission and create more red tape.”
Iain Hoskins, director of Ma Pub Group which manages several Liverpool city centre venues, also sees the law’s renewal as crucial for venues adapting post-pandemic.
He said: “My personal feeling is it’s unnecessary. I get it was only a temporary addition and not ingrained into our culture but it feels odd not to renew it.
“Overall, I just think ‘Why bother.’ So much has changed since and businesses have had to adapt to a brand new world. Taking this away feels like dialling back the clock. People experience the industry in a different way now.
“A decade ago outside drinking was horrifying but cities have embraced the chance and it’s allowed them to transform. Like I said, not everyone will see a huge difference but places such as rural pubs and back street venues may have benefitted.
“There’s already huge pressure on the industry so you really wouldn’t want to do anything that would cause another downfall. This could be another huge hurdle some venues could face.
“There aren’t many Easter eggs the government are giving us. None, in fact.”
Dame Diana Johnson, Minister of State for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention, acknowledged the disappointment caused by missing the renewal opportunity. She said: “The previous Government launched a consultation which ran from 16 May 2024 to 11 July 2024, which gave three options to maintain these easements on a more long-term basis.
“These options were to make permanent the alcohol licensing provisions in the BPA, to amend the wording in the Licensing Act 2003 to extend the definition of on-sales so that it includes consumption in a licensed pavement area, or to amend the Licensing Act 2003 to permit on-sales only premises licence holders the right to make off-sales to any area for which there is a pavement licence.
“There were 67 complete responses to this consultation exercise, from licensing authorities, trade organisations and residents’ organisations, as well as members of the public. The majority of these respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with all three options proposed. In light of those responses, the Government does not currently have a basis to proceed with any of the legislative options to maintain the temporary easements for the long-term. As such, the off-sales measure will expire on 31 March 2025 and the Licensing Act 2003 will automatically revert to the pre- position.
“While the Government must accept the results of the consultation exercise conducted under the previous administration, we are disappointed that there was not a consensus in favour of retaining an easement from which many pubs and pubgoers have benefited, and which supports our objectives both to promote the growth of the UK economy, and specifically to support the nation’s pub trade.”