The Institute of Licensing, in conjunction with NALEO, have written to the Minister for the Cabinet Office expressing the institute's concern over the lack of progress on a new gov.uk licensing forms system.

In the letter, IoL chair, Daniel Davies, said:

"We have expressed our concern and disappointment at what appears to be a potential backtracking on the entire project, despite the time and commitment given by all those around the table to discuss and assist in the project. We would reiterate these concerns now, and the fact that we have essentially lost 2 years in the meantime to be no further forward in achieving a suitable replacement to the current online forms.

"When we initially raised our concerns, we were hearing from local authorities faced with huge budget deficits, faced with the prospect of making heavy investments into replacement licensing systems in light of the plans at that time to decommission online forms in March 2022. There was considerable consternation at the prospect, with some authorities talking about in house development of systems from scratch, and others predicting a return to manual, paper-based systems for licensing.

"We consider it likely that the position is substantially unchanged at this point. There has been no clear
communication from the Cabinet Office to suggest whether or not the current online form provision will be removed entirely or replaced. All our efforts in working together have been in pursuit of the latter option - a replacement system to serve licensing authorities and applicants going forward, and to meet the requirements of the Provision of Services Regulations."

The Institute continues to engage with the LGA, NALEO, Home Office and other Government on the matter and will continue to update members.