Licensing act 2005

With suggestions ranging from 24 hours to unlimited. There were also various suggestions received from organisations as to what would be an appropriate limit on the number of days that occasional licences issued to the same applicant in a 12 month period could have effect. With suggestions again ranging from one day to no limits. What do you think would be an appropriate limit on the number of days that the occasional licences issued in relation to the same premises in a 12 month period could have effect?

Twenty one individuals responded to this question, and thirty eight organisations provided comments in response to this question. A number of individuals who responded to this question provided the same answer as they gave in response to question 15, with suggestions again ranging from 24 hours to unlimited.

Other comments included:. Similarly, a number of the organisations who responded to this question also provided the same answer as they gave in response to question 15, with suggestions again ranging from one day to no limits.

What do you think would be an appropriate limit on the number of continuous days that a series of occasional licences can have effect in relation to the same premises?

Several suggestions were received from individuals as to what would be an appropriate limit on the number of continuous days that a series of occasional licences can have effect in relation to the same premises.

With suggestions once again ranging from 24 hours to unlimited. There were also various suggestions put forward by organisations as to what would be an appropriate limit on the number of continuous days that a series of occasional licences can have effect in relation to the same premises. With suggestions ranging from one day to unlimited. Are there any other comments you wish to make that relate to the occasional licence?

Fourteen individuals and thirty two organisations responded to this question. The Scottish Government is extremely grateful to all of those who responded to the consultation exercise. Information We use cookies to collect anonymous data to help us improve your site browsing experience. Accept all cookies Use essential cookies only Set cookie preferences. Home Publications. Licensing Scotland Act - fee review: consultation responses.

Supporting documents. Contents Close. Choose section Summary of responses. Summary of responses December The Licensing Scotland Act - Consultation on reviewing the fee for occasional licences and considering a limit on the number and duration of occasional licences - Summary of responses Background 1.

The occasional licence 3. Those persons eligible to apply for an occasional licence are: The holder of a premises licence; The holder of a personal licence; and A representative of any voluntary organisation. The power to make Regulations includes the ability to: set out limits on the number of occasional licences that could be issued to the same applicant in a 12 month period, set out limits on the number of occasional licenses that could be issued in relation to the same premises in a 12 month period, set out limits on the number of days that the occasional licences issued to the same applicant in a 12 month period could have effect, set out limits on the number of days that the occasional licences issued in relation to the same premises in a 12 month period could have effect, and set out limits on the number of continuous days that a series of occasional licences can have effect in relation to the same premises.

The consultation Summary of consultation responses Question 2. Comments included: "A lot of work involved by staff in producing the licence. The current fee is far too low.

Can be abused by members of the public running premises for long periods of time at very little expense and an unfair advantage over licence holders. Further processing including logging information onto the system, scanning and sending it for consultation, results in the current fee being eaten up in the early part of the process.

This is before any follow up visits need to be done in order to assess the possible impact on the licensing objectives. On average, a straightforward occasional licence application takes approximately 1 hour of staff time to process and a more complex application takes approximately 2 hours of staff time. Staff costs alone do not cover the current fee without taking into account any other associated administrative costs nor the more complex applications.

The Board also receives more complex applications which are more labour intensive. Comments included: "We make a limited amount under 7, litres of craft cider. We sell this as off-sales only, mainly at Farmers' Markets across the region in which we live. Junior Football Team we need the profit from our occasional licences for us to operate. I apply 2 or 3 times a year to bring our village together for outdoor music afternoons, or craft events or just to get older lonelier people to meet up and have an occasional glass of wine.

Being able to offer a glass of wine for sale at such events helps draw people in and provides added ambiance. It makes it more a night out for local people. If the fee was to increase it could easily become prohibitive. This would reduce our capacity for local fundraising. Increasing the fee would place an added burden on such Clubs. The Scottish Licensed Trade Association also highlighted "surpluses" recorded by a number of Licensing Boards in their Annual Reports: "…The Association accepts that some Licensing Boards do run at a loss, but the Scottish Government must take into account the "surpluses" recorded by a number of Licensing Boards in their Annual Reports when determining any changes to the current level of fees for Occasional Licenses, particularly when a number of Boards have regularly reported surpluses amounting to, in some cases, tens of thousands of pounds each year Question 4.

Comments included: "Although the lowest of the proposed increases it is still a substantial rise and likely to be the most acceptable to trade and voluntary organisations who legitimately apply for licences. It is also a reasonable sum of money considering most applications are for events which will sell alcohol to make a profit.

Such a cost would be affordable by voluntary bodies applying for occasional licences and will also represent a reasonable cost to unlicensed hospitality, event or outside catering businesses which legitimately cater for a myriad of events in a variety of locations and premises.

Additionally, this fee level takes into account any future inflationary rate as it is uncertain when a further review of the application fee for an occasional licence will take place. Inflation therefore must be taken into account so that the cost does not diminish in real terms. These figures are conservative Justification for a fivefold increase cannot be provided.

This is an undue burden on small Clubs. Such a fee would seriously affect my business. It would not be worth doing for us. We would lose more money than we take in. Follow up visits are also not covered in the costs to ensure compliance with conditions and the licensing objectives.

Therefore a higher fee is merited. Comments in support of that view included: "One fee does not fit all. These companies usually use a personal licence holder. The fee for large scale events could perhaps be based on numbers attending. It is unfair that large events are charged at such a low fee. Question 6. Comments included: "To cover costs of advertising, administration fees recording, circulation to consultees, collation of responses, consultees time and responses, licensing board determinations when required, recording of licences and sending them out to applicants when granted and visits to check compliance with conditions and the licensing objectives It will also ensure that people applying for an occasional licence are serious about their responsibilities and the requirements the licence sets out for them Comments included: "Out of the reach of Sports Clubs.

After all there are more occasionals coming in now that are basically for people running a business without applying for an actual premises licence and this is unfair for the trade that are struggling to make ends meet by having the correct licence in place.

No annual fees are required either so the trade always seems to be out of pocket. Such a fee would VERY seriously affect my business.

Question 8. These types if licences are meant to be for a special occasion or event and not for people to run a business from. The higher application fee may put people off. Greater scrutiny and investigation is required for applications for large scale i. Large scale events often require further clarification with regard to the information submitted on the occasional licence and this takes considerably longer than a standard application and additional staff time is required to liaise with the applicant of such an application.

It is our view that fees for occasional licence applications require to be increased to ensure that Licensing Boards recover their costs. In , the Board received and in , the Board received This represents a Comments included: "There is a growing trend for some premises to abuse the system and fail to apply for a premises license and try and run on occasionals for lengthy periods of time and that is not the spirit of how they were designed to be used.

It is the ability to license the same premises for a continuous and indeterminate period which concerns us Of greater concern to the Board however is the repeated use of occasional licences for a single location or premises, where a short term licensing mechanism is being used for longer term licensing cover. Comments included: "People who want to have events use certain people who have a personal or premises licence because they are good at organising the bar for the event and they have a good reputation so why should there be a limit on the amount of applications that they can apply for.

Are they to have their ability to work limited? Limits may jeopardise livelihoods. In our authority, premises licence holders and personal licences holders apply for occasional licences in community halls, which are used as main venues for functions such as weddings as many licensed premises are too small to host such events.

Restricting the numbers they can lodge for these events would harm the community. There should, therefore, be a distinction between these two different types of business model. Comments included: "12, bearing in mind they run for two weeks that is effectively half a year. Any more than this and there should be a premises license in place of it Examples of the different views offered include: "Unlimited. It's an obstruction to a right to work if there is a limit.

Where an applicant is applying for repeat occasional licences for the same venue it may be appropriate for a limit to be applied. In my case, as a weekly seller of alcohol at farmers' markets, etc, I need a large number over a year simply to continue in business, as do numerous other similar traders When the premises are run as a business it is more important that the operating plan is subject to the scrutiny of the licensing board and evidence is produced that the operation is upholding the licensing objectives…" "…The Board questions whether voluntary organisations should be permitted to sell alcohol on more than a truly occasional basis without training…" " SHAAP suggests that it may be appropriate to apply the same limits as are currently applied to voluntary organisations, meaning that the same applicant could have up to four occasional licences of four days or more in duration, and 12 occasional licences of less than four days.

This would mean that the same applicant could have up to 4 occasional licences of 4 days or more in duration, and 12 occasional licences of less than 4 days, with a maximum number of 56 days of occasional licence in any one year.

However, as detailed below, a shorter period of around 30 days may better reflect the intended use of occasional licences, and the possibility of a lower limit on the total number of days should be considered…" Question Any more than this and the appropriate premises license should be in place.

If a community hall is being used by a whole host of different organisations and personal licence holders it would be unreasonable to cap the number of licensed activities held in any particular hall…" Examples of the comments received are: "The legislation does already set out prescribed limits for the number of occasional licences permitted to be granted for members clubs and voluntary organisations.

The Scottish Government may wish to consider whether these existing limits would also be appropriate for other premises using occasional licences. As highlighted earlier in this response, one board considers it reasonable for occasional licenses covering up to 30 days to be granted in any one calendar year for a single premises.

AFS would agree that 30 days seems reasonable, and would be preferable to a period of 56 days. We think this flexibility should remain. Our main concern is in relation to those premises which sell alcohol continuously under a series of licences issued to the people running the premises, who delay applying for their premises licence.

Premises operating in this way are not required to produce section 50 certificates unlike premises seeking a full premises licence. These certificates ensure that a premises is fit for the public to use. Many occasional licences are for community type premises which would not be able to obtain section 50 certificates without being brought up to date in line with current building regulations…" Question Scottish Local Authorities and Licensing Boards have statutory functions in relation to licensing the sale of alcohol.

The Scottish Government has a role in setting certain fees to be charged by Licensing Boards in the exercise of some of their functions. The level of fees set by the Government is subject to Parliamentary scrutiny. The Licensing Scotland Act the Act requires those who authorise the sale of alcohol to possess a personal licence. Licensing Boards are responsible for granting and reviewing such licences.

The current licensing regime came into full effect in September , with a requirement for people holding a licence to undertake refresher training every five years and a separate renewal process after ten years.

Renewal of the personal licence every ten years provides an opportunity to check that any convictions for relevant and foreign offences have been properly notified to the relevant licensing authority, and that all such convictions have been properly endorsed upon the licence. It also provides an opportunity to ensure that the photograph of the licence holder on the personal licence is updated to aid identification. Personal Licence Holders who first obtained their licence at the introduction of the existing regime in September will need to renew their personal licence for the first time.

They have from 31 August to 31 May to do so. Thereafter there will be an ongoing rolling pattern of renewals for the remaining Personal Licence Holders. Licensing Boards will be required to deal with a significant number of renewal applications in the run up to the ten year point, and we are aware of the concerns that have been raised by stakeholders about the substantial administrative pressures that this will place on Licensing Boards and others.

The Scottish Government considered that because of the amount of administrative work that this will entail for Licensing Boards there was a strong case for introducing a fee for applying to renew a personal licence to help Licensing Boards across Scotland cover the cost of administration.

A consultation in respect of the introduction of a fee for a personal licence renewal application was published on 11 July The Scottish Government also welcomed views and evidence to support an alternative fee level being set, or whether no fee should be introduced at all. The consultation period ended on 15 August In total, fifty two responses were received and forty seven respondents agreed to the publication of their response.

Of the fifty two responses, thirty seven were received from organisations, and fifteen were received from individuals. In total, twenty eight respondents agreed that a fee for renewal of a personal licence should be introduced, and twenty four felt it should not. Two respondents did not answer that question. A summary of the responses received is provided below. This has been set out by type of respondent. Comments in support of this included:. A response to the consultation was received from AFS , the national charity working to reduce alcohol harm.

They did not however put forward a suggestion for what the renewal fee should be. Rather, AFS stated that "Stakeholders with direct involvement in administering the system would be best placed to advise on the specifics of the most appropriate fee level to meet the costs of the renewal process".

Three ADP 's responded to the consultation. All three agreed that a fee for renewal of a personal licence should be introduced. The vast majority of trade organisations did not think that a fee for renewal of a personal licence should be introduced. Particular concerns were raised about the cost to business, with comments including:. The majority of individuals who responded to the consultation, and who have not been referred to previously in this report, did not think that a fee for renewal of a personal licence should be introduced.

Similar to the responses received from organisations, many of the individuals who responded to the consultation were particularly concerned about the cost burden on businesses.

The types of comments made included:. The consultation also asked respondents if there were any other comments they wished to make about the renewal process or proposed fee. Comments included:. The Scottish Government is extremely grateful to those who responded to the consultation exercise.