Agendas, reports and minutes

 
Minute of the meeting of The Highland Licensing Forum held in Committee Room One, Council Offices, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Tuesday 20th May 2014 at 2 pm    
 

Present:
Ramsay McGhee (Trade and Licence Member) – Convener in the Chair
Mrs Pat Hayden (Resident Member) - Vice Convener
Gordon Clelland (Licensed trade representative)
Donald Lawson (Licensed trade representative)
Gwyn Phillips (Resident Member)
Gillian Gunn (representing Highland Violence Against Women Strategy Group)
Elisabeth Smart, Public Health Consultant (Health Service representative)
Sarah Mackenzie (substituting for Debbie Stewart, Highland Drug and Alcohol Partnership)
Gillian Gunn (Violence Against Women, Training & Development Manager)
Ian Cox, Licensing Standards Officer
David Inglis, Licensing Standards Officer – by video link from Wick

In attendance:
Fiona Sinclair, Legal Adviser to the Forum and Clerk
 

1. Apologies for Absence
          
Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of –
Sharon Williamson (Licensed trade representative)
Sergeant Shonnie Campbell (Representative of Police Scotland)
David McDiarmid, (Representative of Fire & Recuse Service)
Cath King, Policy Manager Highland Council (Education and Social Care representative)
Elizabeth Treasurer, Licensing Standards Officer

2. Minutes of Meeting held on 4 March 2014
 
The minutes of the meeting held on 4 March 2014, copies of which had been circulated with the Agenda were held as read and were approved.
Arising from the minutes it was noted that there was no youth member in attendance at the meeting and it was agreed that Ramsay make contact with the Youth Parliament in Highland to try to obtain a second youth representative in order that young people would be better represented on the Forum. 

 
3. Annual Joint Meeting with Licensing Board

The Forum noted that at the request of the Convener, the Annual Joint Meeting with the Licensing Board has been rescheduled.  The meeting will now take place on 7 October 2014 at 2 pm or immediately following the Board meeting scheduled for that day. 

4. Alcohol Focus Scotland – Request for Information

Ramsay explained that the Clerk had responded to an enquiry from Linda Bowie at Alcohol Focus Scotland requesting (a) details of the Forum’s experience of the consultation process for the Licensing Policy Statement, (b) copies of the Forum’s consultation responses and (c) details of the areas of interest of Forum members. 

It was noted that the response sent had been well received by AFS and it was agreed that the response should be circulated to the Forum for information.

5. Licensing Standards Officer’s Report  
 
A report by Ian Cox covering the following matters had been circulated:

PLH Refresher Training – It was noted that recently there had been an increase in the number of PLHs enrolling for refresher training in the Forum’s area.  Nationally, there is growing alarm at the lack of interest in the courses.  Failure to undergo training results in revocation of the Personal Licence and the holder being unable to apply for another Personal Licence for five years.   

Due Diligence Practices – LSOs were emphasising the value of due diligence practices to licence holders and premises managers, for example encouraging licence holders to write down all of their policies, particularly those on serving alcohol to young persons or to resident guests, and to record details of in house training.  Ian explained that where premises managers can demonstrate due diligence they can be absolved from blame should an infringement of the law occur on their premises.  The individual member of staff concerned, however, will still face consequences. 

New applications - new applications for premises licences for food led operations have been received across the Forum area. 

Test purchases - Police Scotland have conducted a substantial number of Test Purchase Operations in off sales premises in the Highland area and it was noted that all have shown that Proof of Age requirements are being followed by the trade.

New Licensing Bill – The Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Bill had just been introduced to the Scottish Parliament http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/76383.aspx.  The Bill proposes a number of amendments to the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. 
 

6. Age Verification Policy Integrity Testing

At the suggestion of David Inglis a paper by Wigtown Divisional Licensing Board on Age Verification Integrity Testing had been circulated to Forum members. 

Ramsay commented that although the Highland Licensing Board had all of its forms available on its website it seemed that no one was aware of the Age Verification Policy and the template available on the Board’s website.  David Inglis explained that premises should have a policy in order to demonstrate due diligence if someone under 18 obtains access to alcohol on the premises.  David suggested that the Forum may wish to take forward a programme of Age Verification Integrity testing in conjunction with the Trading Standards Section of the Council. 

During discussion, some Forum members expressed surprise that test purchasing does not already take place in on sales premises.  David Inglis explained that this was a policy decision made by Police Scotland who were concerned that they could not guarantee the safety of young persons taking part in the tests in on sale premises.  Consequently, test purchasing is restricted to off sales premises. 

The Forum agreed to suggest to the Board that Age Verification Integrity testing would be appropriate.  The Forum noted that the proposal for Integrity Testing ties in with the proposal in the Licensing Bill to amend the licensing objective “Protect children from harm” to “Protect children and young people from harm”.  The Forum agreed that the issue of Age Verification Integrity Testing be discussed with the Board at the joint meeting. 

7. Occasional Licences and Voluntary Organisations

The Convener noted that the Board’s Policy Statement states that where an occasional licence is to be held by a voluntary organisation “the Board encourages voluntary organisations to ensure that at least one member present at the event to which the occasional licence relates is trained at least to a standard prescribed in the Licensing (Training of Staff) (Scotland) Regulations 2007”.  The Forum discussed the steps that the Board might take to “encourage” voluntary organisations to ensure that training has been undertaken.  The LSOs reported that for many larger events licences were held by personal licence holders anyway but reported that endorsement by the Board would be welcome.  Forum members recalled that at the last meeting Sergeant Campbell had commented that Police Scotland were considering the introduction of standard licence conditions which might help alleviate the problem.  It was also suggested that the Board’s statement in its policy may not be reflected in the individual guidance notes for voluntary organisations applying for occasional licences. 

It was agreed that the Forum would ask the Board to ensure that its guidance for occasional licences is consolidated and that it reflects the policy position and also that any member of the Forum seeking to ask the Board to amend its policy statement in relation to voluntary organisations and occasional licences provide evidence in support of their request which can be reported to the Board. 

8. Domestic Violence Unit

At the suggestion of Gillian Gunn the Forum agreed that Sergeant David McAlpine and Graham Goulden from the Violence Reduction Unit attend the next Licensing Forum Meeting to look at the roll out of the “Who are you campaign”.  This is a bystander approach adopted in Scotland to raise awareness of the role that individuals can play in terms of preventing domestic and sexual violence and has a specific focus on staff in licensed premises. 

The Forum noted from an email sent by Sergeant Campbell that the initial intention of the campaign is to engage with licence holders, staff and door stewards.  Links are also being proposed with Pubwatch to enable Pubwatch members to undergo the training with a view to working together towards the prevention of domestic and sexual violence incidents. 

Discussion followed as to whether the local Police could refer individuals to the Pubwatch scheme.  It was noted that Police statistics disclosed a reduction in crime in licensed premises in the last ten years and that the trend in Inverness and Fort William was also positive.

9. Update on Policing Issues

At the last meeting of the Forum it had been agreed that where possible Sergeant Campbell would give updates at Forum meetings on policing issues insofar as they impact on licensing.  In the absence of Sergeant Campbell this item was not discussed.  

10. Report on Board Meetings

The Convener referred to the fact that a number of objectors had not attended a recent Board meeting.  The Forum members asked why applicants and objectors cannot video conference while Board members can.  It was agreed that this issue be raised with the Clerk to the Board. 

David Inglis commented that objectors and applicants who are not represented do not always argue their case to their best advantage and suggested that better information could be provided to parties attending hearings.  The Convener said that this should be covered by the new hearings procedure on which the Forum had just been consulted and on which the Board Clerk’s comments were awaited. 

11. Forum Membership

It was hoped that a new Youth Convener would be in place by the date of the next Forum meeting and Forum members were asked for additional suggestions to engage with young people.

12. Urgent Business not on the Agenda

Brief discussion took place on the provisions contained in the new Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Bill (see link above).  It was also noted that Boards tend not to take action against premises which do not trade for the full hours stated in their operating plan. 

The meeting closed at 4.00 pm.