Licensing Act 2003

I beg to move,"That this House notes with concern that with only 25 days to go before the 6th August deadline set in the Licensing Act 2003, only 20 per cent. of licence applications have been received; further notes the chaos that this is creating both for the licensing trade and for local authorities; is concerned by the problems of extra cost that the legislation is creating for village halls, sports clubs and community centres; regrets the effect that this will have upon local communities; condemns the Government for its lack of action in dealing with the problem; and calls upon the Government to extend the deadlines for the receipt of applications and re-examine the impact upon village halls and sports clubs." I do not think that the Government will be surprised that we have tabled this motion. We have raised the issue in departmental questions, tabled early-day motions and debated the matter in Westminster Hall. Moreover, the Conservative party opposed the Bill when it was first debated in the House, and we did so because we thought that it was ill thought out and badly targeted, that it failed to address the real problems and that it would be impossible to implement. I pay tribute to the work done by my hon. Friend the Member for North-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Moss), who, during the passage of the Bill, consistently pointed out to the Government the practical problems that they would face with this badly drafted and ill-thought-out legislation. I hate to say this to the Minister, but ““We told you so””. At every stage of the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003, we have attempted to make constructive and positive suggestions about how it could be delivered. We have raised concerns from the brewing industry, village halls, voluntary groups, musicians and sporting clubs. At every stage, sadly, the Government have ignored our pleas, denied that there was a problem and buried their head in the sand. Their response has been—to paraphrase a former Prime Minister—crisis, what crisis?