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The Highland Licensing Board Annual Functions Report 2017-18 PDF

294 Pages·2017·3.48 MB·English
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The Highland Licensing Board Agenda 7 Item Meeting – 26 June 2018 Report HLB/056/18 No The Highland Licensing Board Functions Report 2017-18 Report by the Depute Clerk to the Licensing Board Summary This Report invites the Board to approve the Board’s first annual Functions Report for publication in accordance with section 9A of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. 1. Background 1.1 The Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 amended the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 (“the Act”) to introduce a requirement that Licensing Boards produce and publish annual functions reports. 1.2 As a consequence, section 9A was inserted into the Act and came into force on 20 December 2017. 1.3 Section 9A of the Act states that the Board’s annual functions report must be prepared and published not later than 3 months after the end of each financial year. This means that the Board’s report for the financial year 2017-18 must be published by no later than the end of June 2018. 1.4 The functions report must include- (a) a statement explaining how the Board has regard to- (i) the licensing objectives, and (ii) their licensing policy statement and any supplementary licensing policy statement (including the Board’s statement under section 7(1) (duty to assess overprovision)), in the exercise of their functions under this Act during the financial year, (b) a summary of the decisions made by (or on behalf of) the Board during the financial year, and (c) information about the number of licences held under this Act in the Board’s area (including information about the number of occasional licences issued during the year) 1.5 Section 9A of the Act states that the report may include such other information about the exercise of the Licensing Board’s functions under this Act as the Board considers appropriate. 1.6 Section 9A also allows for the Scottish Ministers to make further provision about reports under this section including, in particular, provision about (a) the form and required content of reports and (b) the publication of reports. However, to date, no official guidance on this has been provided by Scottish Ministers. 1.7 The draft annual functions report is attached at Appendix 1 for members’ approval. The report sets out all the types of licences that the Board is responsible for determining. It also includes details of all the functions of the Board and how the Board has regard to the licensing objectives and their licensing policy statement and supplementary documentation. 1.8 There are several reports appended to the annual functions report which provides a breakdown of the total number of licences (premises and personal licences) that are currently in force within Highland. 1.9 There are also reports showing the list of applications considered by the Board and applications granted under delegated powers on behalf of the Board during the financial year. 1.10 A breakdown of revocations of premises licences has been provided together with details of the one refusal of a personal licence within the financial year. 1.11 These appendices to the draft annual functions report are attached to this report as Appendices 4 to 10, to retain their numbering in the functions report. 1.12 Information has also been provided on the Board members’ training, the Highland Licensing Forum and the role of the Licensing Standards Officers as supplementary information. Recommendation The Board is invited to approve the draft Functions Report 2017-18 attached at Appendix 1 for publication in accordance with section 9A of the 2005 Act. Date: 13 June 2018 Author: Claire McArthur Appendices: Appendix 1- Draft Functions Report 2017-2018 Appendices to Appendix 1: Appendix 4 - Current number of premises licences Appendix 5 – Summary of decisions made by the Board Appendix 6 – Summary of decisions granted under delegated powers on behalf of the Board Appendix 7 – Breakdown of occasional licences issued Appendix 8 – Breakdown of extended hours issued Appendix 9 – Breakdown of revocations of premises licences Appendix 10 – Current number of personal licences Background Papers: Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 APPENDIX 1 The Highland Council Licensing Board Annual Functions Report In accordance with the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018 1 Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Functions of the Board 3. How the Board has regard to the licensing objectives 4. How the Board has regard to their Licensing Policy Statement 5. Decisions made by (or on behalf of) the Board 6. Number of Licences held in the Board’s area 7. Other information about the exercise of the Licensing Board’s functions 8. Conclusion Appendices: 1. Statement of Licensing Policy 2013-2018: https://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/file/3743/highland_licensing_board_p olicy_statement_2013_to_2016 2. Supplementary Licensing Policy Statement on extended hours for special events of local or national significance: https://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/file/13560/hlb_supplementary_policy_ statement_on_extended_hours_for_special_events_of_local_or_national_sign ificance 3. Highland Licensing Board policy hours: https://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/file/3744/highland_licensing_board_p olicy_hours 4. Current number of premises licences 5. Summary of decisions made by the Board 6. Summary of decisions granted under delegated powers on behalf of the Licensing Board 7. Breakdown of occasional licences issued 8. Breakdown of extended hours issued 9. Breakdown of revocations of premises licences 10. Total number of personal licences 2 1.0 Introduction 1.1 The Highland Licensing Board (“the Board”) is the licensing authority for the local government area of the Highlands for the purposes of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 (“the Act”). The area extends to 26,484 square kilometres, one third of the land area of Scotland. 1.2 The 2011 Census figures show that the population of Highland on Census day was 232,132 and it increased to 232,950 in mid-2013. This is the seventh highest population of the 32 licensing board areas in Scotland. 1.3 The current Board which was formed in May 2017 comprises ten members, who are all elected members of The Highland Council. The Board is responsible for the functions as set out in Paragraph 2 below within the Highlands. 1.4 The Act makes provision for regulating the sale of alcohol and for regulating licensed premises and other premises on which alcohol is sold. 1.5 Under the Act, the Licensing Board is responsible for considering applications for: • Premises licences • Occasional licences • Provisional licences • Temporary licences • Personal licences • Transfer of premises licences • Variation of premises licences • Extension of licensing hours 1.6 The Act set out the five licensing objectives (“the licensing objectives”) as set out below: • Preventing crime and disorder • Securing public safety • Preventing public nuisance • Protecting and improving public health • Protecting children and young persons from harm 3 1.7 The licensing objectives provide a basis for the administration of the licensing regime. They also provide potential reasons for refusal of an application for the grant or variation of a premises licence, an occasional licence or a personal licence. Breach of the objectives may provide grounds for reviewing a premises licence or a personal licence. Conditions attached to a premises licence or an occasional licence may be based on any one or more of the licensing objectives. 2.0 Functions of the Board 2.1 The functions of the Board are set out in Schedule 1 of the Act and are summarised below: • Determining the Board’s policy for the purposes of a licensing policy statement or supplementary licensing policy statement • Determining, for the purposes of any such statement, whether there is overprovision of licensed premises, or licensed premises of any particular description, in any locality • Determining a premises licence application • Determining a premises licence variation application where the variation sought is not a minor variation • Determining an application for the transfer of a premises licence where the applicant has been convicted of a relevant offence or a foreign offence • Determining a personal licence application or a personal licence renewal application where the application has been convicted of a relevant offence or a foreign offence • Conducting a hearing in respect of a review of a premises licence • Conducting a hearing in respect of revoking, suspending or endorsing a personal licence • Making a closure order • Refusing an application for confirmation of a provisional premises licence 3.0 How the Board has regard to the licensing objectives 3.1 In exercising its functions under the Act, the Board is required to have regard to the licensing objectives as stated at Paragraph 1.6. 4 3.2 Promotion of the licensing objectives is always at the forefront of the Board’s consideration in determining its policies for the purposes of its policy statement. 3.2 When determining licence applications, the Board verifies that all applications before them are consistent with the licensing objectives and ensures that any potential issues are addressed through appropriate measures to safeguard full compliance with the licensing objectives. Such measures include attaching local and special conditions to licences if necessary. Examples of these can be found in the appendices to the Board’s Policy Statement. 4.0 How the Board has regard to their Licensing Policy Statement 4.1 The Board is aware that all applications before the Board are to be dealt with in an open and transparent manner in accordance with licensing legislation and their Board policy documents. 4.2 Information and assistance was made available to persons wishing to apply for a licence, make representations or lodge objections. 4.3 The Board when making their determinations took into account their policy statement 2013 to 2018, supplementary licensing policy statement on extended hours for special events of local or national significance and the Board policy hours. Copies of the Board’s policies are shown in the link at Appendices 1 to 3. 4.4 The Board is aware of their quasi-judicial function and their obligation to objectively determine facts and draw conclusions from them. The Board always aims to follow best practice to ensure proportionate, accountable and consistent decision making by listening to all the information provided by Licensing Standards Officers, applicants and any objectors, weighing up the relevant information, reviewing this against their policies and coming to an informed decision. 5.0 Decisions made by (or on behalf of) the Board 5.1 In the year from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 (“the Period”), the Board met 8 times to determine applications. 5.2 Each application for a new premises licence or variation of a licence was decided on its own merits. During the Period, the Board also received applications for both occasional licences and extended hours. 5 A summary of all the applications received for the financial year is shown in appendices 5 to 10. 5.3 In assessing applications, the Board used a number of different sources of information to enable them to reach determinations. These sources included reports from community councils, local residents, the Licensing Standards Officer, Police Scotland, National Health Service, application objectors and established licensing practitioners. 5.4 Objections were received to a number of applications. All objections were taken into account in the decision making process. 6.0 Number of licences held in the Board’s area 6.1 The total number of premises licences in force as at 31 March 2018 was 1224. A breakdown of these premise licences is shown at Appendix 4. 6.1.1 A list of applications that were considered at the Board during the Period is shown at Appendix 5. 6.1.2 A list of applications that were granted under delegated powers during the Period is shown at Appendix 6. 6.1.3 A list of occasional licences issued during the Period is shown at Appendix 7. 6.1.4 A list of extended hours licences issued during the Period are shown at Appendix 8. 6.1.5 There were no written warnings, variations to licences or suspensions to premises licences during the Period. There were 3 revocations of premises licenses. These were on the grounds of non-payment of the annual premise licence fees and are shown at Appendix 9. 6.2 The total number of personal licences in force as at 31 March 2018 was 3575, of which 362 were granted during the Period. A list of current personal licences (broken down into applications per year) is shown at Appendix 10. Further details of current personal licences are available on the Highland Council public register at the following link: http://license.highland.gov.uk/default.aspx 6 6.2.1 There were no personal licence reviews undertaken during the Period and there was 1 personal licence application refused. This was on the ground that refusal was considered necessary for the purposes of preventing crime and disorder given the nature of the applicant’s previous conviction and the fact that a live warrant for his arrest was at that time in place for a pending case. There were 211 personal licence revocations during the Period as a result of the personal licence holders not refreshing their training, or producing evidence of having completed refresher training, within the specified period. 7.0 Other information about the exercise of the Licensing Board’s functions 7.1 Licensing Board training On 6 June and 26 July 2017 all current Board members received a day of training from Alcohol Focus Scotland in licensing legislation and the Board’s functions. This included a post training examination which all Members had to pass before they could sit on the Highland Licensing Board 7.2 Licensing Forum 7.2.1 Alongside the Highland Licensing Board, there is also the Highland Licensing Forum (“HLF”). Local licensing forums were established under the Act and each forum consists of between 5 and 21 members as the Council may determine and at least of one the members must be a Licensing Standards Officer for the Council area. The remainder of the members include persons resident within the forum area, young people, persons having functions relating to health, education or social work, premises licence/personal licence holders and a member from Police Scotland. 7.2.2 The role of the HLF is to keep under review the operation of the Act in the Highland area. The HLF is the community’s voice on licensing issues. This will be mainly at a policy level as the HLF cannot comment on individual cases before the Board. 7.2.3 The HLF meet four times a year and in addition have one joint meeting with the Board each year. 7

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