Conservatives Secure Improved Licensing Transparency

Tower Hamlets Conservatives have secured a major victory for local residents on the transparency of the licensing of pubs, clubs and strip clubs.

At the Full Council meeting on October 27, Cllr David Snowdon and Cllr Zara Davis secured unanimous council backing for their plans to have the details of the licenses of every pub, club, strip club and late night food outlet published on the Tower Hamlets Council website.

Cllr Snowdon, who proposed the motion, said “As a member of the council’s licensing committee, I see many cases where local residents are sick to death of late night anti-social behaviour outside of bars or fast food outlets. In some cases premises are already breaking the terms of their licenses by opening late or failing to abide by the conditions imposed by the licensing committee. Unfortunately, unless residents are able to find the original licensing committee paperwork, or feel able to ask the licensee for their copy, they have no way of knowing whether licensing regulations are being broken.”
To address this problem, Cllr Snowdon’s motion allows for the creation of a full online database of licensable hours, together with a map showing the location of all licensed premises.

Cllr Snowdon added “I hope that this will make it easier for residents to hold strip clubs, fast food outlets and bars to account for any breaches of their licenses”.

n cases of serious breaches, residents can apply to the licensing committee for a review of the license, which can lead to either new conditions being imposed or the license being revoked.