The Licensing Act 2003 (Applications of Potential Strategic Importance to Greater London etc and Consequential Amendment) Regulations 2026 were made on 12 October 2026, laid before Parliament on 13 October and come into force on 3 November 2026. Signed by Local Government Minister Jim McMahon, the instrument extends to England and Wales but applies in England only, and in practice it is aimed at London licensing authorities. In practical terms, the Regulations convert a broad statutory power into a working procedure. Section 51 and Schedule 26 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 inserted powers into the Licensing Act 2003 allowing the Mayor of London to call in and determine certain licensing cases of potential strategic importance to Greater London. The new instrument on legislation.gov.uk sets the trigger points, the notice requirements and the decision timetable.
Regulation 3 defines which applications can enter that route. For new premises licence applications, and for applications to vary an existing licence, any application involving Fee Band D or E premises falls within the definition. Fee Band B or C premises also qualify where licensable activities are proposed after 11pm or where the application includes regulated entertainment in the form of live music. Separately, any application that proposes a maximum capacity above 5,000 people is included. The definition also reaches licences or variations intended to operate for a limited period of less than three months. The effect is that the Mayor's potential reach is not confined to the very largest permanent venues. Late-night proposals, short-duration licences and some live music applications in the middle fee bands can also be treated as strategically important for Greater London.
Once a relevant application is made, regulation 4 requires the notice to the Greater London Authority to be accompanied by the full application and any plans, documents or information that travelled with it on submission. That matters because the later deadlines run only from a valid notice. Under regulation 5, once the GLA concludes that a case is of potential strategic importance, it must notify interested parties within 10 working days starting the day after the valid notice was given. The notice must identify the application, explain why the GLA has made that determination and summarise the effect of the Mayor's call-in provisions in the Licensing Act 2003. London licensing authorities then have a publication duty of their own. Regulation 6 requires the authority to advertise the GLA's determination for at least five consecutive working days, with the publication ending no later than the end of the consultation period. In plain terms, boroughs cannot treat the GLA's involvement as a private exchange between institutions; the fact of strategic designation, and the reasons for it, must be visible within the live licensing process.
The hearing stage is also tightened. Where a licensing hearing is to be held on one of these applications, regulation 7 requires the authority to send the GLA the date, time and place of the hearing, the parties' procedural rights, the consequences of non-attendance, the procedure to be followed and any points on which the committee expects clarification. The authority must also provide the relevant representations. That package has to reach the GLA no later than 10 working days before the hearing. Regulation 8 then makes the consequential amendment that gives those duties practical force. It amends the Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005 so that, where the statutory information has been sent, the Greater London Authority counts as a party to the hearing. For committees and applicants, that changes the status of the GLA from observer to formal participant within the hearing framework.
The post-hearing obligations are equally detailed. Regulation 9 requires the licensing authority, within five working days of the last day of the hearing, to send the GLA a statement of the determination and the reasons for it, the record of proceedings and any recording if available, any notice sent to the applicant, the officer's report and any other document given to the committee. That paperwork is more than administration for its own sake. It gives the Mayor and the GLA a complete evidential bundle before any decision is taken on whether the case should be called in. It also reduces the scope for dispute later about what material the borough committee had before it, what was said at the hearing and how the authority reached its conclusion.
Regulation 10 sets the Mayor's decision window. In cases without a hearing, the specified period is 20 working days from the day the GLA receives the notice under section 25B(2) or 41ZA(2) of the Licensing Act 2003. If there has been a hearing, the 20 working days do not start until the authority has completed the post-hearing steps in regulation 9. The structure is designed to stop the mayoral clock running before the GLA has the material it needs. Once the Mayor has made a decision, regulation 11 requires notice within five working days. Regulation 12 then requires the licensing authority to publish that decision and keep it published until the relevant licence is revoked, surrendered or, for a time-limited licence, has expired. Regulation 13 adds a further reporting duty where the borough makes an intervening decision, with notice to the GLA due within three working days.
Regulation 14 standardises how the system communicates. Notices and information under the new London provisions must be sent electronically, in a form that can be accessed, reproduced and stored, and must be legible in all material respects. For licensing teams already working in digital case files, that should be manageable. Even so, the Regulations create a stricter statutory expectation around completeness and transmission than many authorities have had to meet in routine cases. There is also an important transition rule. Regulation 15 states that the new regime does not apply to relevant applications made before 3 November 2026, so boroughs and applicants are dealing with a clear commencement line rather than a half-converted caseload. Regulation 16 requires a formal review by the Secretary of State within two years of commencement and at intervals of no more than five years after that. The explanatory note also states that no full impact assessment has been produced because no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.
For operators, promoters and venue owners, the immediate point is that some applications will now carry a second tier of scrutiny above the borough licensing committee. That does not alter the substantive licensing objectives in the 2003 Act, but it does alter who may end up deciding a case and how long the process may run. Applications involving later hours, major capacity, live music in the relevant fee bands or short-duration permissions are the clearest candidates for early legal and procedural checking before submission. For London licensing authorities, the Regulations add a detailed workflow around referral, publication, hearings and post-hearing disclosure. For residents and other participants, the change is one of visibility as much as power: the GLA's strategic designation, the reasons for it and any mayoral decision must all be published within the process. The policy effect is a more centralised route for a defined class of London licensing cases, with City Hall given a formal role that boroughs will need to build into their case management from 3 November 2026.