Overview

• The government opened a four-week Call for Evidence to gather views on overhauling licensing rules for pubs, clubs and restaurants in England and Wales.
• Options under discussion include allowing later opening hours, scrapping hard‑copy local newspaper adverts for licence changes, raising temporary event notice limits, and simplifying outdoor trading.
• Ministers cite a need to “rebalance” the system to support growth, drawing on nine recommendations from a Licensing Taskforce that included industry, music, night-time and policing representatives.
• Public‑health charities and some local and policing voices argue the plans could fuel alcohol‑related harm, antisocial behaviour and weaken democratic oversight through a stronger national licensing framework.
• Trade bodies and taskforce leaders back swift reform as a lifeline for venues facing closures and cost pressures, while officials stress this is a consultation stage with no statutory changes yet.