Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Licensing Act 2003 to include a legal definition of the term drunk.

The High Court has set out in case law (Neale v E 1984) that the word ‘drunk’ should be given its ‘ordinary and natural meaning’.

It is an offence under S.141 of the Licensing Act 2003 knowingly to serve alcohol to someone who is drunk. It is also an offence under S.142 of the Licensing Act 2002 to obtain alcohol for someone who is drunk. Those who commit either offence could be fined up to £1000.

Ultimately the decision to serve alcohol to a person is taken by an appropriate person within a licensed premises – for example a designated premises supervisor.