My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lords who contributed. I am thankful for their general support for this measure and their recognition that we should be looking to support our hospitality industry, which has suffered a tumultuous few years and continues to feel the after-effects of the pandemic; I will come on to that in a second.
The noble Lord, Lord Paddick, questioned the fact that this a temporary measure and asked why it is not being made permanent, since it extends the off-sales provision only until next September. Let me go into some detail regarding what has happened since the pandemic.
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I note both noble Lords’ points about pubs in London, which I myself frequent. I concur with them, but we believe that businesses need certainty to help them recover economically from the pandemic. Evidence from trade organisations—again, I will come on to those in a second—and other sources has indicated the significant financial losses and wider economic pressures faced by the hospitality industry more broadly. The British Beer and Pub Association reported that, although consumer confidence is up from 2021, with circa 70% of people feeling confident in visiting pubs, bars and restaurants, support is still needed to bring that figure up further and ensure a strong, sustainable recovery.
Data on sales in the hospitality sector indicates that the sector is still smaller than it was prior to the pandemic. Sales across restaurants, bars and hotels reached £31.6 billion in the three months to the end of September 2021. That is a 73% increase on the summer of 2020 but is still down 10% on the same period in 2019. Given that the pandemic lockdown restrictions have been lifted for the best part of a year, how much of this is related to the pandemic and how much is related to other factors? Of course, there are a number of other factors at play; they cannot all be Covid-related.
I do not think that any of us could be in any doubt that the pandemic has had a profound effect on the hospitality sector. As I said, some of those effects continue to be felt. It is worth pointing out that some businesses took out loans or incurred debts during the pandemic, which must be paid off, but we are not seeing an increase in consumer confidence back to pre-pandemic levels yet.
The noble Lord, Lord Paddick, asked whether this approach leads to anti-social behaviour. The vast majority of licensed premises act responsibly, of course. Under Section 76 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, the police and councils have the power to issue a closure notice. They can do this if there are grounds for believing that the use of particular premises has resulted, or is likely to result, in nuisance to members of the public, or that there has been, or is likely to be, associated disorder near the premises.
The noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby, asked whether local authorities have raised concerns. No local authorities have raised concerns about this matter but, equally, neither have local communities. He also asked whether the NPCC speaks for all police forces. As I am sure the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, will confirm, it is a representative body that speaks for all 43 police forces in England and Wales.
Why have we not brought forward a permanent change? As I said in my opening remarks, we want first to consult with the licensed sector, local authorities, the public and the police. That is what we are going to do over the course of the next year.
I think I have answered most of the questions I was asked. Again, I thank noble Lords for their broad support for this measure. Obviously, we will come back to this subject with the results of the consultation but, for now, I commend the regulations to the Committee.