UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy sets out licensing reform

The Government has outlined licensing reform in its recently published Modern Industrial Strategy for the UK.

The Industrial Strategy is a 10-year plan to increase business investment and grow the industries of the future in the UK. The Strategy will make it quicker and easier for business to invest, and will provide the certainty and stability needed for long-term investment decisions.

Under its “Creative Industries Sector Plan”, the plan will ensure that the UK is the number one destination worldwide for investment in creativity and innovation and aims to significantly increase investment by 2035.

Under this plan, the Government has set out proposals to working with “industry and local authorities on delivering changes to the licensing system that support the growth of the creative and hospitality sectors, including live music. The government has established a licensing taskforce, which will soon publish its recommendations for making improvements to the licensing system.”

It also set out the following plans:

planning reforms will enable more and faster development of economic infrastructure such as film studios, music arenas and large‑scale performing arts venues. The government amended the National Planning Policy Framework in December 2024 so that planning policies should have regard to the Industrial Strategy.
to improve the implementation of the ‘agent of change’47 principle as part of wider planning reforms, and will consult on future policy changes. We want to enable new developments such as housing to co-exist with cultural infrastructure such as music venues