Westminster's new licensing policy favours seats over standing in the West End

Westminster City Council's new licensing policy is now in force, and it changes the terms for anyone applying for a new licence in the West End, City AM reports.

When it considers new licence applications, the council will discourage excessive drunkenness and encourage more seating, food ordered by table service and less open bar space for high-volume vertical drinking (drinking standing up). Separately, the guidance sets a presumption of refusal for planning applications for new pubs and bars in the West End, Soho included. They will only be approved where applicants can show exceptional circumstances.

The response has been loud. Some 81% of respondents to the council's consultation disagreed with the effective ban on new pubs and bars. Mayor Sadiq Khan has accused the council of arrogance, and Wetherspoon chairman Sir Tim Martin told City AM the curbs were "completely barmy" and were inhibiting business.

Deputy council leader Tim Barnes says there have never been plans to ban vertical drinking, and that the council will explain its terms better. He points to other drags on the trade: a lack of police investment that has led the Met to object to many licence applications, cut night bus routes and no weekday night Tube.

What it means for operators: the seating and table-service wording applies to new licence applications. If you're looking at a new pub or bar in the West End, budget time and cost for an exceptional-circumstances case, and plan the floor around seats from the start.