I thank noble Lords for all their contributions, which have given us an interesting debate on the draft regulations before us today—a meatier debate than I expected at the outset. We have been discussing an essential extension of the temporary pavement licence provisions in the Business and Planning Act 2020 for 12 months to 30 September 2023. As previously outlined, the regulations continue our support for the hospitality sector’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as supporting businesses in times of rising costs and expenses. They are vital to provide certainty for the businesses in their planning for al fresco dining for the next year.
I am grateful to noble Lords for raising a number of important points in relation to how this will operate, and I welcome this opportunity to respond. I have heard loud and clear the contributions of both the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, and my noble friend Lord Young on the issue of smoking and smoke-free areas and I acknowledge that they are both very well informed on the subject. To be fair, I merely touched on the issue of smoking in my opening remarks—certainly not in any great depth.
As they both know, all licences are subject to the smoke-free seating condition, which requires that the licence holder must make reasonable provision for seating where smoking is not permitted. The pavement licence guidance recommends that a minimum two-metre distance should be provided between non-smoking and smoking areas wherever possible. My noble friend is quite correct that local authorities can also apply their own local conditions to licences, and both Newcastle City Council and Manchester City Council have entirely banned smoking in areas that have been granted pavement licences.
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I can confirm that we are working with the Department of Health on that guidance. The Government are carefully considering the 15 recommendations set out in the Javed Khan independent review to support the Government’s ambition for England to be smoke-free by 2030. The new tobacco control plan, due to be published later this year, will set out a comprehensive package of new proposals and supporting regulatory changes. I have heard loud and clear your Lordships’ request that we consider amending the LUR Bill. All I can promise to do is to take those concerns straight back to the department; it is beyond my pay grade to make any such undertaking from this Dispatch Box.
The noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, and my noble friend Lady McIntosh were particularly concerned about the impact on disabled people and access issues. Ensuring pavements remain accessible to everyone, including the disabled, is a condition of temporary pavement licences. Licences can be revoked where this condition is not met. The pavement licence guidance makes clear that, in most circumstances, 1.5 metres of
clear space should be regarded as the minimum acceptable distance between the obstacle and the edge of the footway, and this will continue to apply under the extended provisions.
In framing the guidance, we worked closely with the RNIB and the Guide Dogs association to refine it to ensure that local authorities consider the needs of the blind when setting conditions and making decisions. Local authorities must consider the need for barriers to be put in place to separate furniture from the rest of the footway, so the visually impaired can negotiate around the furniture with ease. We are updating guidance to emphasise to local authorities that extra care should be taken to ensure that national and local requirements on accessibility are still being met.
The noble Baroness, Lady Northover, asked on behalf of the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, about the possibility of local authorities charging for the use of the pavements. Unfortunately, the Business and Planning Act 2020 does not give local authorities a specific power to charge ongoing rent for use of pavements. This measure supports businesses by making it significantly cheaper to gain a licence compared to the previous route, while fully funding local authorities’ costs for providing this service. We are not looking to impose additional costs on businesses at a time of rising costs.
I know that the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, was also concerned what else we are doing to help businesses through what is a particularly difficult time, with both rising costs and lack of staff. We believe that these
temporary measures benefit businesses by offering a cheaper and faster route to obtaining outdoor eating licences, and this cuts costs for businesses and enables additional seating. Not only do the measures assist in the economic recovery from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic but they support businesses during this time of rising costs. We must not forget the amount of support that we gave the hospitality industry throughout the pandemic, such as the furlough scheme and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
The noble Lord, Lord Khan, asked how many licences were rejected. The department does not have that specific data but, anecdotally, refusals are for many reasons, including fire safety, access for disabled people and the lack of safe functioning of the area. We approved 25,382 licences. I hope that has dealt with the questions.
To conclude, extending the temporary pavement licences provisions through the regulations is necessary to support hospitality businesses. This is particularly important when we consider just how badly hit by the pandemic the sector has been, and these temporary pavement licence measures have already been very successful in supporting the sector in its economic recovery. Extending the provisions will enable this success to continue and provide much-needed certainty to businesses in their planning for the coming year. I commend the regulations to the Committee.