Calls for extension as Scottish Licensing Act deadline looms

The Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA) has ramped up the pressure to postpone the need to have premises managers signed up for the country's new Licensing Act, which is effective from September 1.

SBPA chief executive Patrick Browne has written to justice minister Kenny MacAskill to seek a delay, arguing that an administrative logjam means thousands of licensees could have to close their doors from that date unless the system is given time to catch up with the backlog.

If the name of a premises manager has not been added to a premises licence by September 1 then legally the business is not able to continue trading beyond that date.

As reported in The Publican​ Scottish trade chiefs are concerned at what they see as a looming crisis.

Browne said: "With less than six weeks to go, figures from our members suggest that licensing boards may still have to decide as many as one in 10 of the premises licence applications lodged with them."

He said this was "astounding" given that the last tranche of applications were lodged with licensing boards more than six months ago.

Browne added: "Where premises licences have been granted by boards we estimate that perhaps as many as two thirds have not yet actually been issued to licensees, making it very difficult for our members to begin training their staff in the actual conditions attaching to their licences.

"The position on the processing of personal licences is even worse, with at least one licensing board not yet having issued any personal licences and with others struggling to clear backlogs of applications.

"That makes it impossible for the businesses affected to actually designate a premises manager."

He says a freeze on the need to have all permissions in place would be similar to what happened with the introduction of the new licensing regime in England and Wales in 2005, which hit similar problems.

"The alternative is that potentially thousands of licensed premises could be forced to cease trading on September 1 because of administrative issues which would do tremendous damage to Scotland's licensed and hospitality industries," he said.