Welcome to the Spring newsletter of the Westminster Licensees Association - providing a round up of the latest news, the top issues affecting trade in Westminster and the vital information you need to run your business effectively.

More information on these and other topics is available on our website www.westminsterlicensees.org.

Smoking: The Government has confirmed that the ban on smoking in public places and workplaces will take effect from 6am on Sunday 1 July 2007. This will have major repercussions for the licensed retail trade, and it is vital that operators take time now to understand their new obligations, work out how the ban will affect their business and make the necessary operational changes. Our comprehensive briefing note provides all the information you need to plan for the ban.

Police advice: A number of members have recently been on the receiving end of very heavy handed enforcement activity by the police. It is clear that the police are increasingly taking a very tough line during routine and ad hoc inspections, and demanding action to upgrade and improve CCTV and search facilities. On a number of occasions, issues identified during inspections have been followed up immediately with formal enforcement action to penalise the outlet rather than through the normal negotiation route. Threats to close the premises are being routinely made which have very real implications for the premises licence. Make sure your business is defended and staff are briefed on actions to take to protect the liquor licence by reading our detailed overview of existing police powers.

We continue to press for an enforcement protocol within Westminster so operators know and understand what is expected of them during inspections and what requests are reasonable. For example, both WCC and the police have promised that routine inspections will be conducted outside peak trading hours and that managers will not be removed from the trading floor for extended periods of time. We need to make sure that this is promise is being upheld - is your experience different? What problems with enforcement have you encountered? We need to know!

Test purchasing: The Violent Crime and Disorder Act has now introduced a new "3 strikes and you're out" to under age sales. If a business is found to make more than 3 underage sales within 3 months, then the premises licence holder may be prosecuted or alternatively a ban on selling alcohol for 48 hours imposed. Nationally, the Government is expected to launch a new round of test purchasing stings in May and there is no doubt that Westminster TSOs and police will be engaged in this activity. Review your internal policies and staff training to make sure you have the necessary measures in place to prevent illegal sales and demonstrate due diligence by the company eg sales refusal log or button on tills, adoption of Challenge 21 policy

New Laws: Finally, as we advised before Christmas, from 1 January 2007 it has been illegal to have unstamped bottles of spirits on the premises unless you can prove that they were purchased before October last year. The requirement applies to spirits and made wine with an abv of more than 30% and in bottles of more than 30cl, so it does not apply to spirits based ready to drink product such as Bacardi Breezer or low abv product such as Martini. HMRC have taken a light touch to enforcement of this new law and allowed a 3 month 'amnesty' for unstamped product to be sold through, but they will now be cracking down on unstamped product so make sure you have a paper trail to demonstrate date of purchase or get unstamped product drunk!

For further information on these and other issues, check out our website. For advice and guidance contact the secretary, Kate Nicholls (kate@nlcommunications.co.uk) 07958 796 238

Kate Nicholls
23 Beaconsfield Road
London W5 5JE
tel 07958 796 238