Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Citation | 2005 asp 16 |
Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005
2005 asp 16
The Bill for this Act of the Scottish Parliament was passed by the Parliament on 16th November 2005 and received Royal Assent on 21st December 2005
An Act of the Scottish Parliament to make provision for regulating the sale of alcohol, and for regulating licensed premises and other premises on which alcohol is sold; and for connected purposes.
Part 1
Core provisions
1 Prohibition of unlicensed sale of alcohol
(1) Alcohol is not to be sold on any premises except under and in accordance with—
(a) a premises licence, or
(b) an occasional licence,
granted under this Act in respect of the premises.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the selling of alcohol—
(a) on exempt premises, or
(b) to trade.
(3) A person who—
(a) sells alcohol, or
(b) knowingly allows alcohol to be sold,
in breach of subsection (1) commits an offence.
(4) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (3) is liable on summary conviction to—
(a) a fine not exceeding £20,000,
(b) imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or
(c) both.
2 Meaning of ‘alcohol’
(1) In this Act, "alcohol"—
(a) means spirits, wine, beer, cider or any other fermented, distilled or spirituous liquor, but
(b) does not include—
(i) alcohol which is of a strength of 0.5% or less at the time of its sale,
(ii) perfume,
(iii) any flavouring essence recognised by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise as not being intended for consumption as or with dutiable alcoholic liquor,
(iv) the aromatic flavouring essence commonly known as angostura bitters,
(v) alcohol which is, or is included in, a medicinal product,
(vi) denatured alcohol,
(vii) methyl alcohol,
(viii) naphtha, or
(ix) alcohol contained in liqueur confectionery.
(2) In this section—
"beer", "cider", "denatured alcohol", "dutiable alcoholic liquor" and "wine" have the same meanings as in the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 (c. 4) , and
"medicinal product" has the same meaning as in section 130 of the Medicines Act 1968 (c. 67) .
3 Certain supplies of alcohol to be treated as sales
(1) A supply of alcohol which is not otherwise a sale of the alcohol is, in the circumstances described in subsection (2) or (3), to be treated for the purposes of this Act as if it were a sale of the alcohol.
(2) The first set of circumstances is where the supply is by or on behalf of a club to, or to the order of, a member of the club.
(3) The second set of circumstances is where the supply is made to, or to the order of, a person pursuant to a right acquired by the person under a contract.
4 The licensing objectives
(1) For the purposes of this Act, the licensing objectives are—
(a) preventing crime and disorder,
(b) securing public safety,
(c) preventing public nuisance,
(d) protecting and improving public health, and
(e) protecting children from harm.
(2) In this Act, references to the "crime prevention objective" are references to the licensing objective mentioned in subsection (1)(a).
Part 2
Licensing bodies and officers
Licensing Boards
5 Licensing Boards
(1) There is to continue to be a Licensing Board for—
(a) the area of each council whose area is not, at the time this section comes into force, divided into licensing divisions under section 46(1) of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) ("the 1994 Act"), and
(b) each licensing division of such an area which is so divided at that time.
(2) A council whose area is not so divided at that time may subsequently make a determination that their area is to be divided into divisions for the purposes of this Act.
(3) Where a council makes such a determination—
(a) there is to be a separate Licensing Board for each of the divisions,
(b) the Licensing Board for the council's area is dissolved on the date on which those separate Licensing Boards are elected in accordance with schedule 1, and
(c) anything done by the Licensing Board for the council's area before the Board is dissolved is, to the extent that it has effect at that time, to have effect after that time as if done by such of the separate Licensing Boards as the council may determine.
(4) A council which has made a determination (whether under subsection (2) or section 46(1) of the 1994 Act) that their area is to be divided into divisions may revoke the determination.
(5) Where a council revokes such a determination—
(a) there is to be a single Licensing Board for the whole of the council's area,
(b) each of the Licensing Boards for the divisions is dissolved on the date on which the single Licensing Board is elected in accordance with schedule 1, and
(c) anything done by the Licensing Boards for the divisions before they are dissolved is, to the extent that it has effect at that time, to have effect after that time as if done by the single Licensing Board.
(6) Subsection (7) applies where a council—
(a) makes a determination under subsection (2), or
(b) revokes such a determination or a determination made under section 46(1) of the 1994 Act.
(7) The council must, no later than 7 days after the making of the determination or the revocation—
(a) notify the Scottish Ministers of the determination or revocation, and
(b) publicise it in such manner as the council sees fit.
(8) Schedule 1 makes further provision about the constitution of Licensing Boards, their procedure and other administrative matters relating to them.
6 Statements of licensing policy
(1) Every Licensing Board must, before the beginning of each 3 year period, publish a statement of their policy with respect to the exercise of their functions under this Act during that period (referred to in this Act as a "licensing policy statement").
(2) A Licensing Board may, during a 3 year period, publish a supplementary statement of their policy with respect to the exercise of their functions during the remainder of that period (referred to in this Act as a "supplementary licensing policy statement").
(3) In preparing a licensing policy statement or a supplementary licensing policy statement, a Licensing Board must—
(a) ensure that the policy stated in the statement seeks to promote the licensing objectives, and
(b) consult—
(i) the Local Licensing Forum for the Board's area,
(ii) if the membership of the Forum is not representative of the interests of all of the persons specified in paragraph 2(6) of schedule 2, such person or persons as appear to the Board to be representative of those interests of which the membership is not representative, and
(iii) such other persons as the Board thinks appropriate.
(4) In exercising their functions under this Act during each 3 year period, a Licensing Board must have regard to the licensing policy statement, and any supplementary licensing policy statement, published by the Board in relation to that period.
(5) At the request of a Licensing Board—
(a) the appropriate chief constable, or
(b) the relevant council,
must provide to the Board such statistical or other information as the Board may reasonably require for the purpose of preparing a licensing policy statement or supplementary licensing policy statement.
(6) On publishing a licensing policy statement or a supplementary licensing policy statement, a Licensing Board must—
(a) make copies of the statement available for public inspection free of charge, and
(b) publicise—
(i) the fact that the statement has been published, and
(ii) the arrangements for making copies available for public inspection in pursuance of paragraph (a).
(7) In this section, "3 year period" means—
(a) the period of 3 years beginning with such day as the Scottish Ministers may by order appoint, and
(b) each subsequent period of 3 years.
7 Duty to assess overprovision
(1) Each licensing policy statement published by a Licensing Board must, in particular, include a statement as to the extent to which the Board considers there to be overprovision of—
(a) licensed premises, or
(b) licensed premises of a particular description,
in any locality within the Board's area.
(2) It is for the Licensing Board to determine the "localities" within the Board's area for the purposes of this Act.
(3) In considering whether there is overprovision for the purposes of subsection (1) in any locality, the Board must—
(a) have regard to the number and capacity of licensed premises in the locality, and
(b) consult the persons specified in subsection (4).
(4) Those persons are—
(a) the appropriate chief...
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