Home Office consultation light touch authorisation for groups to sell alcohol

The Home Office is consulting from 11th November to 9th December 2014 on a relaxation for community groups and small businesses selling or giving away small amounts of alcohol as part of a wider service.

The consultation is here 
It is called Consultation: The Community and Ancillary Sellers Notice

This is potentially important for community groups, and possibly parish councils, that want to sell alcohol at an event for example.

A public consultation on alcohol, undertaken in 2012, asked for feedback on two measures. These were: a lighter touch Temporary Event Notice (TEN) with more local discretion for community groups, and a new authorisation to reduce burdens on ancillary sellers of alcohol. In response to the consultation, the Government announced its intention to create a new authorisation called the Community and Ancillary sellers Notice (CAN) to provide a light touch authorisation for both these groups.The CAN is intended to benefit providers of bed and breakfast or other similar overnight accommodation who may wish to offer overnight guests a bottle of wine in their room and community groups putting on small community events who wish to sell an alcoholic drink to those attending the event. 

The Consultation is a short document which asks for responses to 7 questions only three of which relate to Community groups.If you run events, or want to run events, but have been put off you may want to respond to this consultation.