The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005| comes into effect at 5.00am on 1st September, 2009 and replaces all existing legislation governing the sale and supply of alcohol in Scotland. The Act introduces five strategic Licensing Objectives namely:
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preventing crime and disorder,
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securing public safety,
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preventing public nuisance,
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protecting and improving public health, and
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protecting children from harm.
The Police and local Licensing Boards| have been given new powers, new offences under the Act have been created and Test Purchasing of alcohol has been introduced.
The Act requires all local Licensing Boards to publish a Statement of Licensing Policy| setting out the Boards' views and requirements in support of the five Licensing Objectives and to review these on a three yearly basis. Licensing Boards are required to have regard to the five Licensing Objectives when determining applications etc. The old system of quarterly Board meetings has ended and meetings of the Board will now be timetabled| on a more frequent basis.
The familiar forms of licences for Public Houses, Hotels, Off-Sales, Entertainment etc are replaced by a single form of Premises Licence| and each premises is required to have a Designated Premises Manager who must be the holder of a new Personal Licence|. All sales of alcohol must be authorised by a personal licence holder and it is anticipated that many premises will have more than one Personal Licence Holder. Members Clubs| are being brought into the mainstream licensing system for the first time and all servers of alcohol will require to have undertaken training.
Other features of the Act include – Mandatory Licence Conditions, Local Licensing Forums|, Licensing Standards Officers, new requirements in regard to notification of applications to neighbouring residents etc and enhanced rights for members of the community to make objections and complaints|.
The Act is being implemented by way of an 18 month transition period which began on 1st February 2008. During the transition period all existing licences and permissions issued under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 will remain in force without need for renewal (this includes Registrations of Members Clubs by the Sheriff). However during the transition period, operators of licensed premises will require to apply for a new licence under the new Act in order to continue to operate after 1st September 2009. The timetable for making the new applications has been set by the Scottish Executive as follows:
(insert) to follow
Failure to submit applications by the due date will result in the loss of the 'grandfather rights' available to existing operators. Failure to obtain all relevant licences by 1St September, 2009 will result in the loss of the right to sell alcohol by the premises concerned.
A link to The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005| is to be found here and links are also provided to various Regulations made under the Act.
Scottish statutory instruments