§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will collect and publish statistics of the number of licensed premises and their aggregate capacity, the number of offences of violence against the person and the number of calls to the ambulance service, for every area in which corresponding figures are available in England and Wales, so that licensing authorities can pay regard to this evidence in carrying out their duty to promote the prevention of crime and disorder under Section 4 of the Licensing Act 2003. [HL3877]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey)No. The Government already publish statistics on the number of liquor licensed premises within petty sessions areas and will continue to publish statistics on the number of licences issued under the new licensing regime that the Licensing Act 2003 will introduce. In determining an application for a licence the licensing authority, following receipt of relevant representations, must take such steps it considers necessary to promote all four licensing objectives and consider any relevant representations made by interested parties and responsible authorities, including the police. All of the information which licensing authorities will require to carry out this function will be available to them.
There is no requirement under the Licensing Act for licensed premises to have capacity limits other than where a condition attaches to the licence specifying one. The Government do not intend to publish figures on the aggregate capacity that may apply to licensed premises in a licensing authority area.