Scottish pubs face closure over licence delays

Thousands of pubs in Scotland could be forced to cease trading in September as administrative delays mean licensees have been unable to comply with new regulations.

The new licensing regime in Scotland is due to come into force on 1 September, but the Scottish Beer and Pub Association has written to Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill to ask for a delay.

Patrick Browne, chief executive of the SBPA, which has 1,500 members, said: "It has become clear from feedback from our members that there are major problems with the introduction of the new licensing regime. 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 which is astounding given that the last tranche of applications were lodged over six months ago."

He estimated that as many as two thirds of premises licences have not yet been issued to licensees, making staff training difficult.

He added: "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 called for a moratorium on implementing the new rules, saying: "The alternative is that potentially thousands of licensed premises could be forced to cease trading on 1 September because of administrative issues which would do tremendous damage to Scotland's licensed and hospitality industries. That would be an unthinkable outcome."