UKHospitality comments on Government plans to reduce high street red tape

The Government says that the measures will prompt a wave of new cafes, bars, music venues and outdoor dining options, due to the cutting of red tape to “breathe new life into the high street”. The weekend announcement included: 

• a Government overhaul of planning and licensing rules to make it quicker and easier for new cafes, bars and music venues to open in place of disused shops.
• New ‘hospitality zones’ to fast-track permissions for alfresco dining, pubs, bars and street parties.
• Reforms to protect long-standing venues from noise complaints by new developments.

Kate Nicholls, Chair of UKHospitality, said: “We strongly welcome these proposals to cut red tape and make it easier to open and operate hospitality venues, create jobs and grow the economy.

Measures like streamlined licensing, hospitality zones, and protections for existing venues are positive steps which we have been pushing for some time. We know that hospitality is the key to reinvigorate our vital high streets, breathe life into neighbourhoods and support local communities and this is a welcome first step towards unlocking that.

“But positive and encouraging as these measures certainly are, they can’t on their own offset the immediate and mounting cost pressures facing hospitality businesses which threaten to tax out of existence the businesses and jobs that today’s announcement seeks to support.

“Let’s hope that this is just the start of a bold, long term plan for the high streets and hospitality, with reforms implemented swiftly and the promise of permanent lower business rates delivered in full at the next Budget to secure these new opportunities for all.”