Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it remains her Department's policy to introduce a unified consent regime to include (a) pavement licensing and (b) licensing consent for the consumption and sale of alcohol in that pavement area.

The previous Government explored the feasibility of creating a unified consent regime that would grant businesses a pavement licence and the ability to sell alcohol for consumption there. Unifying the two regimes did not prove workable, so the then Government launched a consultation on alternative options relating to the consumption of alcohol in licensed pavement areas in May 2024.

The Government is carefully considering the results of this consultation and will publish the results shortly alongside next steps.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is responsible for pavement licences. The Government supports the use of pavement licences to encourage better use of outdoor space on our high streets, supporting businesses and revitalising the spaces that communities use. We have no plans to change the streamlined application process introduced under the last government.