Licensing Hours Extensions Bill

Lord Bailey of Paddington Excerpts

Friday 24th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bailey of Paddington (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome this Licensing Hours Extensions Bill. It is a sensible, straightforward change that will enable the public to support our hospitality sector with cross-party support. I hope it helps to mitigate the unnecessary strain put on local licensing authorities by preventing the current process of large numbers of applications being viewed at late notice, as well as giving certainty to businesses.

The hospitality sector helps to bring people together. As the co-chair of the loneliness APPG, I believe it is vital to enable and support our young people to socialise. The Covid-19 pandemic had an incredibly damaging impact on our young people’s well-being, with almost half of parents reporting that their children’s social and emotional skills worsened as a result. Furthermore, the hospitality sector is intertwined with the arts, with a trip to the theatre likely to include a drink and a meal out. The music, performing and visual arts sectors aid in cultural enrichment, bringing in over £11 billion to the UK economy each year, with our West End box office generating almost 1/10th of that. More broadly, hospitality brings in over £62 billion to the UK, providing 2.6 million jobs, making it the sixth-largest UK industry in terms of employment.

However, this Government’s track record does little to inspire confidence, actively undermining the sector since they came to office. Indeed, 111,000 jobs have been lost in the hospitality sector across the UK, with 30,000 jobs going here in London. It is hardly surprising that such a phenomenon is occurring when it now costs on average an extra £2,500 to add a member of staff, even before wages. In a nation that has a really high unemployment rate, surely we do not want to add more to this list.

Like other businesses across the UK, the hospitality sector has faced significant additional challenges since the Labour Government came to power. Each hospitality business has been expected to come up with an extra £30,000 to £80,000 in additional operating costs, according to the Night Time Industries Association. That staggering figure is the culmination of the national insurance contribution rate increases and an increase in the living wage of 6.7%, not to mention broader market instabilities and lack of confidence. These Government decisions not only make your night-time trip out more expensive but they make it less likely to happen at all. The night-time economy sector has faced a 15.8% contraction over the summer. The Times reported that a third of pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels are losing money and are at risk due to recent tax rises. These numbers reflect a growing understanding that a Labour Government are not conducive to business.

This predicament is even worse in our capital. The Mayor of London appointed Amy Lamé as a night czar. He paid her a huge sum of money, but she oversaw a massive decline in London nightlife which has yet to be put right. Economics aside, safety is a huge limiting factor, especially for women, on enjoying the hospitality sector. Two-thirds of respondents said they would be more likely to stay out later, and thus spend more money, if better night transportation was provided. I hope the Government will encourage the Mayor of London and TfL to put more effort into rolling out the Night Tube—for example, opening it up on Thursday, which has become the new Friday for many Londoners.

While I commend this Bill in its endeavours, I am deeply concerned by the challenges facing the hospitality sector due to the uncertain economic environment overseen by this Government, with business confidence falling to minus 74, the lowest reading since the survey began in 2016. As Michael Kill, the CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, put it:

“This past year has been a devastating chapter for the night time economy”.


The Government must do more than this Bill to help the night-time economy grow and prosper. They need to provide a pro-business environment, an agenda that will help this society rebuild not only the night-time economy but employment, particularly for young people. This is an area of our economy that gives many unskilled young people their start in employment and, without it, their lives will be destroyed before they even begin.