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News
Licensing reprieve for Scottish pubs
Thousands of Scottish pubs have had the threat of imminent closure removed after the deadline for obtaining personal licences was moved back by two months.
The country’s 2005 Licensing Act comes into force on 1 September, but the Scottish government came under pressure to grant an extension last week, after the Scottish Beer and Pub Association suggested that just one in 10 applications lodged for the mandatory new licences had been cleared.
Under the terms of the extension granted by justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, premises may continue to serve alcohol until 1 November, on condition that they have applied for a personal licence by the end of August. However, the SBPA remains concerned that this leeway may still not be sufficient. Patrick Browne, chief executive of the SBPA, commented: “We have real concerns that making this change so late and only granting it for a two month period actually risks adding a further backlog of dispensation applications to the backlogs for premises licences”.
Browne also highlighted the difficulty for landlords who had not yet received their new licence in offering the necessary staff training, or displaying a summary of its conditions, both of which are still required by the original deadline.
Gabriel Savage, 28.07.09