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 21st  May 2013 at 2 pm    

Present:
Mrs Pat Hayden (Resident Member) – Convener in the Chair
Ramsay McGhee (Trade and Licence Member) - Vice Convener
Ainya Taylor (Youth representative)
Gwyn Phillips (Licensed trade representative – off sales)
PC Angie Grant (substituting for Sgt Roddy Nicolson, Representative of Northern Constabulary)
Elisabeth Smart, Public Health Consultant (Health Service representative)
Sarah Henderson (substituting for Debbie Stewart, Highland Drug and Alcohol Partnership)
David McDiarmid (Representative of Fire and Rescue Service)
Gordon Clelland (Licensed Trade Member) – by video link from Fort William
Mrs Janet Home (Resident Member)
Graham Bell (substituting for Cath King Education Service representative)
Donald Lawson (Licenced Trade Member)
Ian Cox, Licensing Standards Officer
Elizabeth Treasurer, Licensing Standards Officer – by video link from Fort William
David Inglis, Licensing Standards Officer – by video link from Wick

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

1. Welcome

The Convener welcomed members to the meeting and extended a special welcome to Gwyn Phillips, Ainya Taylor, PC Grant, and Graham Bell who were all attending their first Forum meeting.

2. Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of –

Joanne Sutherland (Personal Licence Holder)
Fiona Palin (Social Work representative)
Debbie Stewart (HDAP representative) (Note - Sarah Henderson in attendance as a substitute member)
Cath King (Education Service representative) (Note – Graham Bell in attendance as a substitute member)
Sgt Roddy Nicolson (Northern Constabulary representative (Note – PC Grant in attendance as a substitute

3. Minutes of Meeting held on 12 March 2013

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2013, copies of which had been circulated with the Agenda were held as read and were approved on the motion of Don Lawson seconded by Ian Cox.  

4. Report by Vice Convener on board meetings

Ramsay had attended the Board meeting on 14 May and reported that some applications for variation had been granted, and that following review hearings written warnings had been issued to two premises licence holders and one personal licence had been revoked.  There had been a contentious application seeking to amend the operating plan of an Inverness nightclub to include Adult Entertainment as an activity taking place within the premises.  The application had been granted although objections had been received and a hearing took place.  It was noted by the Forum that other premises are already licensed for adult entertainment within the Highland area.  Discussion took place as to the enforceability of conditions attached to licences and the implications of the Brightcrew case.  The Forum noted that conditions had been imposed on the licence granted and that any person could apply for the licence to be reviewed on the grounds that one of the five licensing objectives had been breached.

5. Forum membership – consideration of applications for membership

Two applications for membership of the Forum had been received.  One of these was from Gillian Gunn, the Violence Against Women Training and Development Manager and the other was from the Policy Officer for Health Improvement within the Council.  Both applications had been referred to the Clerk to the Board who has responsibility for appointment of Forum members.  It was noted that the Forum currently has sixteen members and that the maximum permitted number is twenty-one.

During a lengthy discussion, various points weremade including the following - 

• both applications were from the Inverness area and were both regarded by some Forum members as being “health” related although VAW is a social issue

• both applicants were applying in a professional capacity and both positions had a Highland wide remit, neither being directly related to the work of the Public Health Consultant or the Highland Alcohol and Drug Partnership 

• there are only two community representatives on the Forum and few members from outlying areas

• there is a standing invitation on the Forum webpage for members of the public to apply to join the Forum

• the different perspective of the Violence Against Women Agency would be beneficial to the Forum in that it might cast light on the effects of alcohol

• It would be easier to attract members from outlying areas if the Council would agree to pay members’ expenses rather than provide video or telephone conference facilities as is the current situation

• the more representatives the Forum has from public agencies the less attractive the Forum is to community representatives

Following discussion it was agreed that

1. the application from the Violence Against Women Manager be accepted and the application from the Policy Officer for Health Improvement not be accepted at the moment.
2. Forum members will actively seek applications from additional community representatives and individuals from around the Highland area    
3. the Forum Convener would write to the Council’s Assistant Chief Executive regarding the question of expenses for Forum members who attend as community representatives and
4. the Forum Clerk would make contact with Forum members who do not attend regularly to find out whether they wished to retain their membership of the Forum 

6. Update on Young Scot cards if available

It was noted that Arnie Yule of the Young Scot organisation had asked the Forum Clerk if he could attend the Forum meeting on 24th September and that arrangements were now in place for Mr Yule to attend the meeting. 

7. Highland Licensing Board Policy Statement

The Forum then discussed the draft policy statement which had been approved as a Consultation Draft by the Board last week.  The Forum agreed to answer the questions in the questionnaire as follows:  

1. Do you consider the premises licence core hours proposed at section 2.1 are reasonable having regard to the licensing objectives? 

Forum decision - Yes

2. In response to concerns raised by the police regarding pre-match drinking and alcohol-related incidents, the Board is considering whether to introduce a new policy creating a presumption against the grant of extended hours applications for early opening (i.e. before 1100 Monday to Saturday or before 1200 hours on Sunday) on Scottish Premier League match days.   Three options for the position the Board might take on this issue are set out at section 2.2.  Which of these options do you support and why?

Forum decision
Option 1 – No Votes
Option 2 – 9 Votes
Option 3 – 3 Votes

Option 2 - The Board will generally not entertain applications for early opening on SPL match days.  Exception may be made in the case of applications for football club premises themselves where early opening is sought to accommodate pre-match hospitality packages and the Board is satisfied that the consumption of alcohol will be ancillary to the pre-match dining and entertainment provided.

• Comment :

In reaching a decision, Forum members considered public safety issues in the event of a requirement for a stadium to be evacuated and noted that Old Firm games in Glasgow kick off early, before pubs open, in an effort to prevent public disorder.  The Forum noted that fewer supporters require to be turned away at the turnstiles when on-sales premises are closed prior to a game.  They noted that food is provided with hospitality prior to a game and considered that for that reason the premises providing hospitality can be treated differently to other on-sales premises. 

Dissenting members commented that

o it would be better if the Police know where supporters are drinking rather than have supporters purchase alcohol from offsales premises and drink in public places,
o it is difficult to consider on-sales premises in isolation as individuals who cannot purchase from onsales premises can purchse more alcohol for their money from offsales premises and
o there is a problem with supporters from travelling teams consuming excessive amounts of alcohol during their bus journey to the Highlands.

3. Do you consider the festive period hours proposed at section 2.3 are reasonable having regard to the licensing objectives? 

Forum decision - Yes

4. Do you consider the core hours proposed for occasional licences at section 2.4 are reasonable having regard to the licensing objectives?

Forum decision – Yes, though the Forum would suggest that the festive policy hours mentioned at 3 above extend to occasional licences too.

5. In relation to access to premises by children (i.e. persons under the age of 16), do you consider that the requirements proposed by the Board at section 2.5 are adequate and necessary for the protection of children? 

Forum decision –  Yes, the Forum agrees.  The Forum would suggest that in relation to the requirements to exclude children from rooms where there is a bar counter, instead of saying at paragraph 2.5, “The Board will impose the following requirements,” the policy should state “The Board may impose the following requirements”.  The reason is that some hotels have bar counters but essentially the room with the bar counter also serves as the residents’ lounge.  Blanket imposition of this policy would mean that teenagers of 14 and 15 could be excluded from the residents’ lounge at 10 pm which is not what the Forum would consider the Board intends. 

If not, what changes to those requirements would you wish made and why?

Forum decision – The Forum would suggest that the Board take the opportunity in the policy to detail the requirements for an age verification policy, which is a mandatory condition, and that the policy direct people to a sample policy.  Failure to have appropriate age verification measures in place has been the subject of a number of Highland Board hearings in recent months.  The Forum would also suggest that the Policy Statement should detail the requirement that premises admitting children under five have baby changing facilities accessible to both genders and that the Board clarify its position in relation to baby changing facilities when occasional licences are in place.

6. In relation to adult entertainment, do you consider that the requirements proposed by the Board at section 2.6 are adequate and necessary for the purpose of any of the licensing objectives? 

Forum decision – The Forum was unanimous in deciding that the measures are not adequate in relation to the objective of “protecting children from harm”.  All Forum members were concerned that children could be on premises 30 minutes to an hour before or after adult entertainment takes place and felt that children and young persons should be excluded from premises on any day that adult entertainment takes place. The Forum is aware that special consideration may require to be given where children are resident in hotels on days when adult entertainment is taking place. 

For all other licensing objectives, the majority view of the Forum was that the measures proposed by the Board are adequate.  Two members of the Forum, Elisabeth Smart, Public Health Consultant and Sarah Henderson of the HADP asked that their dissent be recorded, stating that adult entertainment objectifies people, is degrading and should not be permitted at all on licensed premises.  Furthermore, as lap dancing was perceived as an activity which exploits women, the view was expressed by the dissenting members that the Board’s decision to grant an application which enabled lap dancing on licensed premises did not sit well with the Board’s stated commitment to promoting equality of opportunity as expressed in its Equality Strategy. 

7. Section 2.8 relating to clubs sets out reminders as to statutory requirements applicable to the sale of alcohol in clubs.  Are there any additional requirements which you consider the Board should impose on clubs as a matter of policy?

Forum response – The Board should encourage Clubs to ensure via their constitutions that a limit is placed on the number of members who can be signed in by a Club member and bona fide entertained by that member in their company.  The Board should encourage Clubs to ensure observance of their constitutions in the Policy Statement. The Forum is also of the view that the Board could more forcefully point out the statutory obligations and restrictions on members clubs.  This would be a useful reminder for clubs themselves and would help inform other licensing stakeholders who read the policy statement.  As the Board has heard during review hearings, some members clubs do not apply for occasional licences when they should.  Trade in other licensed premises suffers because of this.  Indeed the Board highlighted the issue when responding to the Scottish Government consultation in March. 

The Forum would commend to the Board the paragraphs submitted by the SLTA for inclusion in the Board’s policy statement -

“The Board would emphasise that Members Clubs exist primarily for the use of members only and their bona fide guests. The Board will ensure that appropriate action is taken in circumstances where it comes to the Board’s attention that Members Clubs openly advertise, through any medium whatsoever, that the Club facilities are freely available to non-members.

If Members Clubs wish to allow general admission to non-members of the club without being invited, signed in and accompanied by a member of the club, they will require to lodge an application for a major variation of their licence. They will also be required to appoint a premises manager, to have the sale of alcohol authorised by a premises manager or personal licence holder and will no longer be able to benefit from the reduced annual fee for clubs.

Clubs are further reminded that where they agree to host functions (such as weddings, parties etc) at which non-members are to be supplied with alcohol on the club premises at a time when they are not the guest of a member and are accompanied by that member, alcohol may only be sold to those non-members if an occasional licence has first been obtained.

Clubs are asked to note that these statements reflect mandatory legal requirements (The Licensing (Clubs) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 and Section 125 of the Act) rather than Board policy.”

In relation to occasional licences the Forum notes that the draft policy refers to a requirement for an occasional licence to be obtained before alcohol can be supplied to members of the public  “at any function”.  There is no requirement in terms of the legislation for clubs to hold a “function” before applying for an occasional licence.  Occasional licences can be applied for at any time whether a function is taking place or not.  If the Board has a policy on the types of event or function for which occasional licences can be granted to clubs, or indeed to voluntary organisations or personal licence holders then that policy should be set out in the policy statement. 

8. In response to concerns raised by the police in relation to glassing attacks, the Board has for a number of years had a policy of requiring (by local condition) that premises open until after 0100 hours (Late Opening Premises) all drinks served after 2100 hours must be served in plastic or polycarbonate glasses.   Five options for the position the Board might take on this issue in its revised Policy Statement 2013-16 are set out at Section 2.9 for consideration.

a. Which of these 5 options do you support and why?

Forum decision

Option 1 – 0 votes
Option 2 – 2 votes
Option 3 -  0 votes
Option 4 – 9 votes
Option 5 – 0 votes

Option 4 – Apply the policy and the condition to Late Opening and other on-sales premises in each case only where considered appropriate on the basis of individual risk assessment at that premises.

• Comment:- The majority of the Forum members were not persuaded by the document entitled Literature Review of Glassing and Use of Polycarbonates, nor by the arguments presented by Elisabeth Smart, Public Health Consultant at the meeting.  These arguments were that there is evidence that the condition should be imposed on all late opening premises.  The PHC made the point that she had presented a range of data types to the meeting and that there was a limited amount of data to draw upon.  Furthermore, only limited data was collected by the A & E department. 

In the absence of local evidence supporting the argument in favour of the condition or any recent or local statistics the Forum did not support the blanket imposition of this condition. 

The dissenting members pointed out the lifechanging nature of injuries caused by broken glass, and the high quality plastic and polycarbonate glasses which are now available; evidence from the review showing that (a) some nightclub managers have reported no detriment to business as a result of using polycarbonates (b) patrons reported that they felt safer where no glass is in use and (c) staff reported fewer injuries.

b. If you support retention of this policy or its extension to other types of on-sales premises (whether routinely or only on the basis of individual risk assessments), do you consider that the start time should remain as 2100 hours or be extended to 2200 hours? (In either case, please give your reasons.)

This should be dictated by the individual premises risk
assessments. 

9. In relation to outdoor drinking areas, do you consider the requirements proposed by the Board at section 2.10 are adequate and necessary for the purpose of any of the licensing objectives?

Forum response – Yes, with the exception of the paragraph which says, “The Board will also require that the boundary of any outdoor drinking area situated on a public footway must be effectively demarcated to the satisfaction of the Licensing Standards Officer to separate it from the general pedestrian area”.  The Forum suggests that this paragraph be deleted.  The reason for this is that the issue of demarcation of the outdoor drinking area is an issue to be agreed between the licence holder and the Council’s TEC Services in terms of a pavement permit and is not believed to be something the Board could easily enforce.  

Consultation Draft, Appendices 7, 8 and 9 – Premises Licence, Occasional Licence and Adult Entertainment Local Conditions

10. Are there any changes or additions to the local conditions listed at appendices 7, 8 and 9 which you consider should be made and why?  (If you have already commented on any of these conditions in your answers to the previous questions, please simply refer to those answers.)

Comment:  Appendix 7, condition J and Appendix 10 - The use of the word “adequate” in the context of “adequate stewards” is so vague as to be meaningless.

11.  Other matters -

Stewards - Clarification is required in the policy statement as to whether trained or untrained volunteer stewards are required, and the Board should clarify in the policy its expectations of the responsibilities of stewards.  Occasional licence holders can be required to obtain stewards as a condition of their licence.  Sometimes, SIA stewards are engaged but it is the experience of at least one Forum member that occasional licence holders, particularly voluntary groups have no knowledge of the duties the Board expects SIA or volunteer stewards to carry out, eg whether the stewards are there only to deal with disorder or whether they will be expected to cover issues such as fire safety or age verification.  It is suggested that in the policy it is made clear when stewards require to be SIA stewards and when volunteers will suffice and that the duties required of volunteer and SIA stewards be stated. The Board might also give an undertaking in its policy statement that in the actual licences some information and guidance on the reason for imposing a condition regarding stewarding will be given so that licence holders know how they should utilise the stewards they have obtained.

Occasional licences - In relation to occasional licences attention is drawn to the final paragraph of response number 7 above as this applies equally to all categories of occasional licence.  In relation to voluntary organisation occasional licences it is suggested that it would be to the benefit of applicants and other licensing stakeholders if the Board were to explain at Section 2.4 of the policy that in relation to occasional licences granted to voluntary organisations alcohol may be sold on the premises only at an event taking place on the premises in connection with the voluntary organisation’s activities.

The following example is given in the draft Policy Statement - if a premises were to be used for a quiz night on a Friday evening, a birthday party on the following Saturday evening and a live band on the Sunday evening, three separate occasional licences will be required. This reflects the fact that the nature of the events is different, raising different considerations and requiring different conditions.  The Forum suggests that where three different events have a common theme, eg all part of a school reunion weekend or a fundraising weekend for one particular charity or a village Gala weekend, with no other licensed events taking place in the premises over the course of the weekend then the events on the three separate days comprise one occasion and could have one occasional licence rather than three.  This would avoid small voluntary organisations paying three separate fees when one will suffice.  The statutory form of licence provides for separate hours and separate conditions on different days.

Training – the draft Policy Statement says at 2.4 that 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 suggests that additional information on the training standard and some information on how to obtain training is provided here in order to properly inform licensing stakeholders. 

8. Training Standards for Personal Licence Holders

Ramsay raised the above issue and advised Forum members that Refresher Training would begin in August/ September of this year and that those PLHs who had obtained their PLH Certificates before or during the Transition period which ended on 1st September 2009 would require to complete Refresher Training by December 2014. All others should be aware that Refresher Training is due 5 years from the date on their Personal Licence Certificate.

The meeting closed at 4.30 pm.  Members were invited to remain behind for a short Awareness Session for Forum members on Equality Issues affecting the licensing board conducted by Rosemary Mackinnon, the Council’s Equal Opportunities Officer.