Scotland Issue New Guidance to Licensing Boards

Following on the updated Guidance issued for England and Wales, the Scottish Government has also issued revised guidance to their Boards.

The new Guidance can be found here 'Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 section 142: Guidance for Licensing Boards'. It encourages transparency by the Boards as to the basis for the Policies by publishing on their websites the background information relied on to develop and adopt new policies.

It also references the rise in home drinking stating “Many licensing boards recognise this shift and have reflected this when developing their licensing policy statements. This is an approach the Scottish Government strongly supports and would encourage all licensing boards to consider.”

Elena Whitham MSP Minister for Community Safety provides the foreword to the Guidance and commented

“ Finally I would like to make it clear that we remain open to suggestions about how the guidance might be revised in future. With that in mind my officials have already committed to on-gong engagement beyond publication of the updated guidance and we will therefore continue to engage with Boards, via SOLAR and other licensing stakeholders over the coming months, and beyond to ensure that any issues can be collectively considered and worked through. In addition, we expect that new issues may arise in light of experience gained whilst Boards develop their Licensing Policy Statements in the months ahead and we will be happy to consider and discuss any matters of concern.”