PROPOSALS to give each parish the power to grant alcohol licences are “archaic” and “anti-business”, according to the head of the Jersey Hospitality Association.
Responding to the proposal, JHA chief executive Marcus Calvani said there had been “zero consultation” on the idea, which he described as “an attempted power grab” by the Constables’ Committee.
Mr Calvani was reacting to an amendment to a long-awaited overhaul of the licensing law.
The 1974 law that is still in place sees a central Licensing Assembly composed of the Bailiff and Jurats award alcohol licences to pubs, restaurants, hotels, clubs and shops. Several efforts to the law have been made over the years but none have come to fruition, while a 2025 consultation revealed that users viewed it as “complicated”, “long-winded” and “rigid”.
A proposition lodged by Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel would pass the responsibility for licensing applications to the Jersey Gambling Commission while simplifying the number of alcohol categories to two.
But a critical amendment from the Constables’ Committee argued this was an attempt by the Gambling Commission to hang on to their funding. Instead, they propose to give the power to each parish assembly.
Mr Calvani said multiple organisations were consulted on the minister’s proposals and he was “extremely pleased with what came out of it”.
The Constables’ Committee’s amendment, he said, was an attempt to have “all the power” – while creating disparities between parishes with many licensees and those with only a small number.
Figures from last year, for example, revealed that Trinity had 14 licensed premises, St John had 11, while St Helier had hundreds.
“It’s like going back to 1974,” Mr Calvani said. “We’d be better off sticking with the outdated law.
“It’s so archaic, it’s so anti-business, and it’s very clearly just an attempted power-grab for the Constables.
“I have spoken to half a dozen people in the industry and they think it’s absolutely dreadful.”
The consultation on Deputy Morel’s proposal did not ask whether parish assemblies should be the ones making all licensing decisions, but did find that most respondents wanted their parish assembly involved in some way.
A total of 74% of those who responded said they wanted the licensing process to be run by a regulatory authority, which some respondents noted would need “sufficient expertise, knowledge and understanding of industry”.
They were more split on whether the Gambling Authority should take on the responsibility – with 40% saying they were uncertain, 33% agreeing the Gambling Authority should get the power, and 27% disagreeing.
