SBPA demands action over Scottish licence delays
The Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA) has called on the Scottish Government to sort out licensing reform, after it emerged that a number of licensed premises in Aberdeen could lose their licences.
It was reported today that 21 pubs and restaurants are set to be banned from selling alcohol in the run-up to Christmas after the Licensing Board found that they had failed to produce all the evidence required for a new licence by the 1 December deadline.
Last week the SBPA called on Scotland's licensing board to take a "pragmatic" approach towards licensed operators in Scotland who have missed the deadline to fill in all their paperwork for their new Premises Licences, warning that hundreds of premises could be forced to close their doors.
The scramble to complete applications for licences comes after the introduction of new Premises Licences under the Licensing (Scotland) 2005 Act.
Under the legislation, an applicant who has not completed all the paperwork required by 1 December 2009, or who has not received the required paperwork back from the Licensing Board, could have their licence revoked.
Speaking after today's developments, Patrick Browne, chief executive of SBPA said: "The Scottish Government may be saying that the new Licensing Act has been enacted, the problem is that it has still not been delivered. Our members are still reporting significant numbers of Premises and Personal Licences as not yet having been issued by Boards, despite no less than three deadlines in as many months having been passed."
"It would appear that licensing reform is now starting to threaten the ability of licensed premises to continue trading. The Scottish Government must now intervene to bring this situation to a conclusion."
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By Neil Gerrard
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