Licensed Premises To Pay Much More for Licences
23rd January 2008
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill today gave evidence to Holyrood's Justice Committee on proposed reforms to the licensing system.
The fee regulations put forward by Mr MacAskill, under the new Licensing Act, set limits that allow licensing boards to fully recover their costs - whilst also preventing them from making a profit.
This aims to make the system self funding for the first time. The current licensing system recovers only 63 per cent of running costs from fee income. The rest needs to be met from other council resources.
Speaking ahead of his Committee appearance, Mr MacAskill said:
"We are in danger of opting for a bargain basement licensing system that doesn't meet the needs of Scotland. I believe it's simply wrong that the taxpayer has to subsidise the cost of those who profit from the sale of alcohol and I don't think it should continue.
"Alcohol has serious consequences for our Health Service, our economy and our criminal justice system. Alcohol misuse costs Scottish communities enough already - without them having to pay towards letting others make money out of its sale.
"Those who profit from alcohol have a responsibility to help pay for the costs - for example the cost of Licensing Standards Officers, licensing clerks, and the enforcement of the system - believe this should rightly be met by the trade.
"I have heard all the complaints about us doubling fees and that's simply not true - some parts of the licensed trade have set out to protect their profits under the guise of complaining that fees are too high.
"The fees proposed are fair and reasonable to both the trade and to local authorities. I've set limits for boards to work with and let us not forget this is a brand new licensing system and it is disingenuous to compare the new fee arrangements to what is in place at the moment.
"Let me be crystal clear - I am on the side of the tax-payer, I am on the side of law and order, I am on the side of fairness and I make no apology for that. I find it hard to believe that many people will think it right that the taxpayer foots a big chunk of the bill for all of this, it is after all common sense."
If the regulations are annulled the possible consequences include:
Starting the transition period without any fees being chargeable - so boards will not have any funding coming in compromising the enforcement of the licensing system - Licensing Standards officers may not be employed and so a valuable source of knowledge and dispute resolution is lost to the trade Boards not being able to employ sufficient staff - reducing the amount of advice that can be given to applicants.
Applications not properly completed may simply be sent back rather than additional information being sought by 'phone - having a detrimental impact on the trade
The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 reforms the current legislation which dates back to the 1970s. The aim of the new legislation is to simplify and modernise the existing legislation (the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976, and the relevant parts of the Law Reform (Misc. Provisions) (Scot.) Act 1990) to balance the rights of the majority of people who drink responsibly against the need to protect local communities from nuisance and crime associated with misuse of alcohol, provide strong monitoring and enforcement powers, establish a more inclusive system for all those with an interest; support responsible members of the licensed trade and allow local flexibility balanced with consistency of decision making.
Each premises applying for a licence to enable them to sell alcohol from 1 September 2009 will need to pay a fee when they submit an application for a "premises licence". Thereafter there will be an annual fee payable. The transition period for the move to the new system starts on February 1, 2008, with full implementation - and new licences taking effect from September 1, 2009.
The Independent research was based on fee information for 2004.
Under the current system the set fees for all premises are - initial licence, valid for three years, costs £172 with renewal for a further three years being £86. The current system does not distinguish between the size of premises.
The limits for fees that boards can set depends on the rateable value. We expect the majority of premises (around 82 per cent) will fall into the lowest 3 bandings (See table). Further provision is being made so that registered clubs, tourist attractions selling on an off-sales basis, and small hotels/B&Bs which provide alcohol to guests automatically fall into the lowest banding regardless of their rateable value. The bandings are:
Category - Maximum fee for premises licence application - Maximum annual fee
1 - Premises with no Rateable Value (RV) - £200 - £180
2 - RV from £1 to £11,500 - £800 - £220
3 - RV from £11,501 to £35,000 - £1,100 - £280
4 - RV from £35,001 to £70,000 - £1,300 - £500
5 - RV from £70,000 to £140,000 - £1,700 - £700
6 - RV over £140,000 - £2,000 - £900
