Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the consultation entitled Alcohol in licensed pavement areas, which closed on 11 July 2024.

The Government is carefully considering the results of the recent consultation and will publish these shortly alongside next steps.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is responsible for pavement licences. The Government supports the use of pavement licences to encourage better use of outdoor space on our high streets, supporting businesses and revitalising the spaces that communities use. We have no plans to change the streamlined application process introduced under the last government.