Why the red tape?! Licenceholders could be forgiven for thinking, ‘give us a break’, more than once in recent years, as from a legal perspective it is difficult to think of an area of business which is more heavily regulated than the licensed trade. In the past seven years operators have been challenged with four Licensing Acts, more than two dozen Regulations and 32 ever-changing Licensing Board policies. It’s a real maze.
Audrey Junner, Partner Hill Brown Licensing
What’s more, there’s no stopping the bans-and-bureaucracy rollercoaster ride. We are all too familiar with the ‘bigger picture’ issues being debated and making a comeback; minimum pricing, overprovision; the fit and proper test. However, what is often overlooked is the challenge which the regime presents operators on a day to day basis. We are constantly reminded that being successful in any business requires you to be reactive to your environment, to understand the needs of your customers and to be ahead of the game. Easier said than done. Coming up with an idea in licensing and seeing it through to implementation is no mean feat! Real opportunities can be lost because of the administrative burden involved in making very simple changes to a premises licence.
There are very few businesses who need to ask permission from elected officials to turn the radio on, sing karaoke, rearrange their fixed seating or move a pool table. Recently, a client’s application to innocently add indoor/outdoor sports into their licence for the new darts team, lead to a raft of objections from neighbours concerned about rugby in the car park, smashed windows and the haka being performed at all hours. Another application to include gaming for a fruit machine attracted a very firm line of questioning from Police Scotland on illegal poker tournaments…in a carvery. South of the border the 2003 Act allows for Temporary Event Notices (TENs) which enable activities to take place on an occasional basis with a simple application. In Scotland we are not so fortunate and you are in major variation territory when you seek to change anything in your operating plan.
The effect of all this red tape was brought into very clear focus last month when the sun started to shine and the ‘taps were aff’. Summer’s early arrival was such an unexpected surprise that it caught many operators on the hop and the question everyone wanted an urgent answer to was, ‘Can our customers have a drink outside?’. As is par for the course in licensing, the answer was far from straightforward.
Generally, the use of an external area involves two or three elements. Firstly you need to review your premises licence and ascertain the approach of your licensing board. Some Boards take a relaxed attitude and permit the consumption of alcohol in unlicensed beer gardens or pavement areas by virtue of the off-sales facility within the operating plan. This approach applies in Edinburgh where provided no sales take place outside, and consumption ceases at 10pm, customers are free to wander out and enjoy the rays. In other council areas, such as Glasgow, local byelaws preventing the consumption of alcohol in public places mean that licensing boards insist on all external areas being included within licensed areas or covered by occasional licences. Remember you will need a 4-6 week lead in time for any occasional licence applications, so it pays to think ahead.
Secondly where your external area is situated on a public pavement most Councils insist on consent being obtained from the roads department. For example, in Glasgow you enter into an agreement with the Council to occupy the pavement subject to certain conditions at a cost of around £450 a year. In Edinburgh external eating and dining is a far more costly business with operators requiring consent from the Council, attracting a fee of £100 per square meter per annum. Highland consents also attract a pricey annual renewal fee of £600, in contrast East Dunbartonshire don’t insist on roads consent at all.
Finally, you must check you have the relevant planning permission for the area you wish to occupy or licence. In some parts of the country this is not a factor, however it has become absolutely crucial in Glasgow over the past year following a change in the Roads Department’s Policy. This change means that Roads will not accept an application for consent without a copy of planning permission; and without a Roads consent, the area can’t be licensed. On top of this due to strict planning laws, particularly in residential areas outwith the city, premises which have operated outside areas for many years are finding that planning is refused. For a short transitional period Roads will except renewals, not new applications, without planning but this arrangement will not last for long and the result will be that established, well run and unproblematic beer gardens are lost.
My suggestion is that you consider your arrangements now, take advice and if applications are required make sure they are lodged as soon as possible. In Glasgow you could lose an important asset and elsewhere you will miss the boat. Failure to act quickly could mean you are reaching for the umbrellas rather than the parasols by the time you navigate your way through the red tape jungle.
Audrey Junner, Partner
Hill Brown Licensing
