VILLAGE halls will have to wait for a letter from the minister, James Purnell, after he failed to respond to any of the concerns expressed by town MP Peter Luff during a debate on the impact of the Licensing Act on local communities.

Following a well-attended meeting at Bishampton Village Hall last month, Mr Luff arranged the Commons debate.

The minister only briefly touched on village halls in his speech, and then, according to Mr Luff, said: "Nothing of any comfort to those volunteers who run halls."

During his own speech, Mr Luff had outlined the impact of the Act on circuses, village shops, sports clubs, village halls, local galas and farmers' markets.

His deepest concerns were about the impact on halls, and he said the cost of the new licensing regime was much higher and a huge cost of advertising and sending all the relevant documentation to seven different public bodies. He added it was a bureaucratic nightmare, with complicated forms and difficult conditions.

"Most worryingly, there is the huge burden of responsibility that must be borne by one person - the 'designated premises supervisor' - if the hall decides to put alcohol on its licence.

"This one named person - who must be trained at a cost of at least £100 and pay his or her own licence fee too - will bear responsibility for ensuring the terms of the licence are complied with - and faces criminal sanctions if they aren't," said Mr Luff.

He added: "What a shame the minister could not offer some clarification of the impact of the Act on halls. He said some useful things about circuses, but I fear he just had nothing to say about the devastating impact of the legislation on shops or halls."