AAA White Paper The political economy of informal events, 2030 | Page 107

107
Not only the spirit of partnership, but also the formalities of it
are key. In the years to 2030, professionals around the licensing
process need to redouble their efforts on both fronts. In the first
place, event organisers – especially those new to the business
– need a full and firm grasp of the full range of interests with
which local authority event teams have to work in every phase of
the licensing process.
These interests include not just councillors and residents, but
also council officers charged with boosting inward investment.
Under pressure to meet targets, local authority experts in economic
development are often the first officials to be interested in a projected
event; but they often find themselves in isolated local authority
silos, and so possessed of little clout, in the licensing process, with
councillors – let alone residents.
Event organisers need to know these facts of life, ally
themselves with officers in economic development, and improve
their arguments in this domain.
Second, event organisers need a better understanding of where
the police are coming from, and the conditions they face.
The police face conflicting pressures, and that can make the
process of agreeing a licence seem of lower priority than responding
to hate crime, domestic abuse, burglaries, violent crime or the
newly-noised possibility of civil unrest. Under financial pressure,
too, recent improvements in the skills of police specialists around
licensing could in future slow down – especially if their jobs are cut
altogether. Event organisers need to know these things.
Third, councillors will need a firmer, fuller grasp of the
licensing process – not least, through formal training. In 2017, in
its post-legislative scrutiny, the House of Lords Select Committee on
the Licensing Act was pretty caustic about this:
‘Our evidence shows that, while most members of licensing committees
no doubt attempt to apply the law justly and fairly, too often standards
fall short. Many councillors have insufficient training; all
should undertake compulsory training. We were told of cases of
clear inadequacies in fulfilling their functions, resulting in a haphazard
decision-making process.’ (emphasis added)
Fourth, police and council officers need a tighter grasp of the
licensing process. Training will help here.
At present, the British Institute of Innkeeping’s Awarding Body,
the BIIAB, does not currently deliver a licensing qualification for
the police. However, its BIIAB Level 2 Award for Licensing Practitioners
(Alcohol) Handbook offers just such a qualification for Local Authority
licensing officers; and, back in 2016, Assistant Chief Constable
Rachel Kearton, when giving oral evidence to the Select Committee,
told it that police forces should aspire for their licensing officers to
meet that national standard of training.
Not just the police, but everyone involved in the licensing process
needs to up their game. ‘There is’, Chief Superintendent Gavin
Thomas also told the Select Committee, ‘a space or gap at the moment