Scotland - Personal licence renewal fee consultation summary of responses

As previously reported, the Licensing (Fees) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018 introduced the personal licence renewal fee at £50 (on 1 October 2018) following a brief consultation.

Subsequently, the Scottish Government released the ‘summary of responses’ to the consultation, which can be found here. Many respondents took the view that the fee should have been increased, albeit that is now a moot point.

Of interest going forward is the last paragraph of the document, which states: “The Scottish Government intends to undertake a full review of liquor licensing fees in due course, and this will offer the opportunity to look across all the fees to review and update them as appropriate. This will be informed by Licensing Board income and expenditure reports.”

With no timescales being known for this proposed review, cynics might wonder how far away it might actually be. However, as licensing fees rarely decrease licensed operators will be in no rush for the review to occur.

We will, as ever, keep you updated with any developments.