The Licensing Act's Impact has been Immense
After some eight years in the pipeline the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 came into force on September 1 and you’d be lucky if any member of the public could tell the difference. But the impact on publicans north of the border has been immense.
Figures gathered through freedom of information requests show that roughly 20 per cent of Scotland’s licensed premises closed their doors. That figure is incredible. Imagine the number of businesses and employees that represents.
These closures resulted from the economic downturn and the high fees under the new system. Many operators shelled out around £4,000 in transitional costs such as application, architects and legal fees, and moving forward now have to pay as much as £900 in annual fees, in contrast to £86 every three years under the old system.
There is no respite for the licensed trade. Still reeling from conversion, it’s now steeling itself against further additional regulation and taxation proposed by the Scottish Government.
A new “social responsibility fee” is proposed – something along the lines of the payment required under the English alcohol disorder zones regulations and minimum pricing looks likely to come into force.
One of the biggest issues seems to be in relation to “irresponsible promotions”. Certain types of promotion, defined under the legislation, are now illegal in Scotland. But what exactly may or may not constitute one of the barred promotions has suddenly ignited furious debate among the trade, lawyers, training course providers and local authority employees such as licensing standards officers.
One of the key objectives of the report which led to the new Scottish Act was harmonisation: but the variations in interpretation are much more prolific than under the old system.
The public are in the dark over the new rules and I recently heard that some supermarkets are experiencing a drop of around 20 per cent in alcohol sales due to the restrictive display requirements.
Those who thought September 1 would signal the end of their woes are fooling themselves. Variation applications are beginning to mount and premises licence reviews are just around the corner. Standards officers are finding that staff have not been given the proper two hour statutory training course (although they think they have). Notices and signs are not being displayed correctly, if at all. Publicans are providing activities without permission in their operating plan. There is much still to be done.
For further information, contact a member of our Hospitality and Leisure Team