Government looks to extend licensing hours for Queen's Platinum Jubilee
The Platinum Jubilee will mark the Queen's 70-year reign and the celebrations will include a four-day bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2 June until Sunday 5 June.
To support the celebrations, the Home Office is launching a public consultation on extending licensing hours for pubs, clubs and bars from the normal 11pm to 1am on Thursday 2, Friday 3 and Saturday 4 June.
Section 172 of the Licensing Act 2003 allows the Home Secretary to make a licensing hours order, giving permission to premises to open for specified, extended hours to mark occasions of exceptional international, national or local significance.
The extension of licensing hours will be subject to a month’s public consultation, giving the public the opportunity to submit their views on the proposals as well as seeking the views of specific stakeholders, including the police, licensing authorities and alcohol awareness groups.
The public consultation will ask for an extension of licensing hours for premises already licensed for the sale of alcohol for consumption and premises already licensed for the provision of regulated entertainment.
The consultation will focus on whether licencing hours should be extended and the scope of a licensing hours order, including the dates, times, geographical extent and licensable activities to which it should apply.
Licensing hours have also previously been extended for The Queen’s 90th birthday in 2016; the FIFA World Cup in 2014; The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012; and the royal wedding in 2011.
