Government confirms off-sales easement will lapse on 31 March

The Government confirms the off-sales easement will lapse on the 31 March and the Licensing Act 2003 will revert to the pre-covid position when the measure expires.

Section 11 of the Business and Planning Act 2020 (BPA) modified provisions in the Licensing Act 2003 to introduce a temporary easement that allowed premises licence holders who were only permitted to do on-sales (i.e. to sell alcohol for consumption on site) additionally to automatically make off-sales (i.e. to sell alcohol for takeaway and delivery, and for consumption within an adjacent licensed pavement area) without having to apply to their Licensing Authority for a licence variation.

This was a temporary measure to boost the economy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and was due to expire on 30 September 2021. It has since been extended on several occasions.

The previous Government ran a consultation from 16 May 2024 to 11 July 2024 which sought views on three options regarding the future of this regulatory easement. These options were to make permanent the alcohol licensing provisions in the BPA, or 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 permit on-sales only premises licence holders the right to make off-sales to any area for which there is a pavement licence. 

The full consultation results can be found here. 

A government spokesperson said:

“In summary, the majority of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with all three options. In light of the results, the Government does not intend to progress with any of the options outlined in this consultation.

“As such, the off-sales easement will lapse on the 31 March 2025 and the Licensing Act 2003 will revert to the pre-covid position when the measure expires. This is the option that received strong support from respondents in an earlier consultation on this topic in 2023.

“Consequently, any on-sales only premises licence holder who took advantage of the easement and who wishes to continue to do off-sales will need to apply for a variation to their licence in advance of the easement lapsing at the end of March this year.

“To support businesses, we have amended guidance under Section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 to advise Licensing Authorities to treat applications for amendments as a minor variation to the licence. This process is quicker and cheaper than major licence variations and does not require a local newspaper advertisement. This amendment can be found at paragraph 8.65 of the guidance and should mean that those business that are taking advantage of the easement under the BPA – and wish to continue to do so – should be able to amend their current licence to add off-sales via the minor variation process for a one-off cost of £89.”