Agendas, reports and minutes

Minute of the Special Meeting of the Highland Licensing Board held in the Council Chamber, Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness, on Tuesday 27 August 2013 at 10.30 am.

Present:

Dr I Cockburn, Mr A Duffy, Mr A Henderson, Mr R Laird, Mrs L Macdonald, Mr W MacKay, Mr D Millar and Ms Maxine Smith.

In Attendance:

Mr A Mackenzie, Clerk
Ms S Blease, Depute Clerk
Sergeant R Nicolson , Police Scotland
Mr I Cox, Licensing Standards Officer
Mr D Inglis, Licensing Standards Officer
Ms E Treasurer, Licensing Standards Officer
Mrs A MacArthur, Administrative Assistant

Also in Attendance:

Ms G Gunn, Violence Against Women Action Group
Ms M Paton, Chair, Violence Against Women Action Group
Ms E Smart, Assistant to Director of Public Health and Head of Policy, NHS
Ms D Stewart, Co-ordinator for Highland Alcohol and Drug Partnership
Mr D Lawson, Inverness Highland and Inverness Pub Watch

Ms M Smith in the Chair

The Vice Convener advised the Board that the meeting would be filmed and broadcast over the internet on the Highland Council website and would be archived and available for viewing for 12 months.

Business

1.  Apologies for Absence
Leisgeulan

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr Richard Greene and Mr J Stone.

2.  Declarations of Interest
Foillseachaidhean Com-pàirt

There were no declarations of interest.

3.  Licensing Policy Statement 2013–16
Aithris Poileasaidh Ceadachd 2013-16

There had been circulated Report No HLB-106-13 (687kb pdf) by the Clerk inviting the Board to agree any amendments and additions to the Consultation Draft Policy Statement 2013-16 following consideration of all responses received, and to agree that a draft Final Policy Statement 2013-16 incorporating the agreed amendments and additions then be brought back to the Board for final approval before adoption which would be in November this year on expiry of the existing policy statement.

The Depute Clerk confirmed that all of the respondents to the consultation had been invited to make a presentation to the Board.  Of these three had accepted, Ms G Gunn, Ms E Smart and Mr D Lawson.

Ms E Smart, from the Public Health Directorate stated that in relation to core hours, having discussed with colleagues they would suggest a cool down area in respect of large festivals, to enable people to cool down before they travel home.  In relation to adult entertainment, from a public health perspective they believed adult entertainment was sexual exploitation and was contrary to legal obligations outlined in the Equality Act in relation to gender.  They suggested no more licences should be granted for this kind of application.  In relation to glassware, Option 2 was supported, as extending this measure to all establishments would protect both customers and staff by preventing glassing incidents.

Ms M Paton, Chair, Violence Against Women Action Group gave a presentation on Ms G Gunn’s behalf and expressed the following concerns in relation to adult entertainment:

    The Group asked that no licences which included adult entertainment as an activity in the operating plan be granted in Highland;
    Employment of dancers should be made directly and not through an agency.  Reference was made to an advert that had appeared for female entertainers through an agency quoting prices for services.  The licence holder had denied having anything to do with this advert;
    The no nudity condition was easily ignored or circumvented by the operators, and the Group asked the Board therefore to make a clear reference within their conditions that genitalia should be covered at all times;
    Clarity on the “no touching” rule should be provided with a stated distance introduced to protect customers and performers.

The Depute Clerk confirmed for the record that the nightclub had not placed the advert and that the agency had acted on its own initiative without consulting the nightclub.  The agency’s practice was to advertise for dancers and then offer them to clubs throughout Scotland for a fee.  This advert had been investigated by the LSO as soon as it had been brought to the Clerk’s attention.

Mr D Lawson stated that he represented Johnny Foxes and Inverness Pub Watch which had 32 members from licensed premises in Inverness.  He had the following concerns

    In relation to paragraph 2.6 in the consultation draft, would the adult entertainment require qualified stewards trained to SIA standards?
    In relation to point 2.1.1 in the report - could consideration be given to  allowing Sunday opening to 1.00 am in line with the hours for Mondays to Saturdays?
    In relation to paragraph 2.9 – Mr Lawson’s preference was for option 4.  This had been given support from the Inverness Pub Watch, the Licensing Forum, Police Scotland, the Highlands and Islands Licensed Trade Association, the Scottish Whisky Association and Johnny Foxes.
    Mr Lawson queried the figures presented by the NHS in their glassware report which were from 1997-98 and so were 15 years old. In addition, they related to Glasgow and Liverpool, cities which had little in common with Inverness as these were arguably the most violent cities in the UK.
    Mr Lawson drew members’ attention to the system of bans used by members of Inverness Pub Watch.  There were presently 46 life bans in place for 32 premises and all of these bans were drug related.  There were also 15 exclusions in place for periods of between 1 to 2 years, all for incidents involving violence.  Since Inverness Pub Watch was set up in 2006, no incidents of glassing had been reported to it.
    It was noted that pubs had no plastic glasses condition imposed on them and that this raised issues of fairness.

Ms L Smart responded that the NHS had struggled to find statistics related to glassing that were current as these incidents were not always recorded.  They had looked hard for any information that was available and it was not unusual in research of this nature to look at statistics from elsewhere and to learn from these.

Members had the following questions:

    Did the Police agree that there have been no incidents of glassing in recent years?
    Did the Police and the NHS record glassing incidents?
    Since adult entertainment performers were self-employed, how could this still be deemed exploitation?

Sergeant R Nicolson responded that glassing incident statistics had only been recorded since the 1st April this year and only three minor incidents had been recorded since then in licensed premises.

Ms L Smart stated that NHS Accident and Emergency departments did not record data on cause of injury such as glassing.  They only recorded the injury.  This was something they would like to improve.

Ms G Gunn stated that, yes, a performer could still be exploited although paid on a self-employed basis.  The women involved did not make much money. It was the companies which ran the establishments that made the money.

Ms D Stewart, Co-ordinator for the Highland Alcohol and Drug Partnership, stated that a number of indicators were set by Scottish Government.  One of these was the percentage of crimes where the offender was under the influence of alcohol.  Although there had been a slight decrease in the last two years in Highland our percentage was still 6% higher than the Scottish average.  Concern had been expressed from communities about the level of antisocial behaviour and crime and the Highlands had a not dissimilar average to the national average.

The Board then debated each of the Proposed Policy sections of the Consultation Draft Policy Statement in turn, having regard to the full consultation responses set out at Appendix 1 to the report and to the additional submissions made to the Board at the meeting.  In respect of each Proposed Policy section, the outcomes were as follows:

Section 2.1 Premises Licence Core Hours

Members were in agreement as to allowing on-sales premises to open from 1100 hours on Sundays, but disagreed over the appropriate terminal hour on Sunday nights.

Mr R Laird, seconded by Mr A Duffy, moved to extend the policy hours for on-sales on Sundays (currently 1200 hours to 2400 hours) to 1100 hours to 0100 hours the following day, in line with policy hours for Monday to Saturday.

Mr A Henderson, seconded by Mr W MacKay, moved as an amendment that the policy hours for on-sales on Sundays be extended to 1100 hours to 2400 hours only.

On a vote being taken, 5 votes were cast in favour of the motion and 3 votes were cast in favour of the amendment, as follows:

For the motion (5):  Mr I Cockburn, Mr A Duffy, Mr R Laird, Mr D Millar and Ms M Smith.

For the Amendment (3):  Mr A Henderson, Ms L MacDonald and Mr W MacKay.

The motion therefore became the find of the meeting and members AGREED to extend the policy hours for on-sales on Sundays for all types of on-sales premises (including occasional licences) to 1100 hours to 0100 hours the following day, in line with policy hours for Monday to Saturday.

Subject to this modification, the terms of Section 2.1 of the Consultation Draft were AGREED for adoption as part of the Policy Statement 2013-16.

Section 2.2  Extended hours applications

Members AGREED to support Option 2 in relation to extended hours on Scottish Premier League match days.  The terms of Section 2.2 of the Consultation Draft were accordingly AGREED for adoption as part of the Policy Statement 2013-16 subject to addition of the following:

“Scottish Premier League Match days

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.”

Section 2.3 Festive Period Hours

Members AGREED the festive hours (0400 hours for late opening premises and 0200 hours for other on-sales premises) proposed for 2013 to 2016.

With regard to the period each year during which these hours would apply, members AGREED that the dates for the 2013-14 festive period should be Friday 13th December 2013 to Thursday 2nd January 2014 (i.e. ending on the morning of Friday 3rd January 2014).

Members further AGREED to delegate to the Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman of the Board, authority to fix the festive period dates for the second and third years of the Policy Statement.

Subject to this amendment, the terms of Section 2.3 of the Consultation draft were AGREED for adoption as part of the Policy Statement 2013-16.

Section 2.4 Occasional Licences

Members AGREED the terms of Section 2.4 of the Consultation Draft for adoption as part of the Policy Statement 2013-16 with the following amendments:

    Addition of a reminder as to the mandatory condition relating to voluntary organisations;
    Deletion of the first paragraph in the consultation draft after the sub-heading “Application Requirements”;
    Amendment to policy hours for Sundays to 1100 hours to 0100 hours the following day.
    Addition of further information on the training standard to be encouraged for voluntary organisations and on where such training may be sourced.

Section 2.5 Access to Premises by Children

Members AGREED the terms of Section 2.5 of the Consultation Draft for adoption as part of the Policy Statement 2013-16 subject to the following amendments:

    Amendment of the wording to clarify that the requirements referred to in the text “may” be imposed by the Board, rather than “will” be imposed (for the reasons stated in the consultation response from the Highland Licensing Forum),
    Addition of a reminder as to the mandatory condition that premises admitting children under five must have  baby changing facilities accessible to both genders,
    Addition of a reminder as to the requirement to have an age verification policy in place setting out the steps to be taken to establish the age of someone purchasing alcohol and also provision of a link to a sample age verification policy.

Section 2.6  Adult Entertainment

Members AGREED the terms of section 2.6 of the Consultation Draft for adoption as part of the Policy Statement 2013-16 subject to the following amendments:

    While it was agreed that the adult entertainment local conditions referred to in Appendix 9 should still be imposed where appropriate, Section 2.6 should be amended to state that, where considered necessary and appropriate, the Board will expect applicants who include adult entertainment as an activity in the operating plans also to include in their operating plans a statement that they will operate only in accordance with their operating code, which should in turn include all of the protective measures set out in the Board’s adult entertainment local conditions,
    Addition of a requirement that the code of conduct referred to in adult entertainment local condition 1. should not only be in place and “made available” to staff and customers but should be clearly displayed within the premises,
    Addition of the additional conditions requested by Police Scotland in their consultation response requiring the licence holder to notify Police Scotland of all forthcoming adult entertainment events and requiring that a personal licence holder be present for the duration of any adult entertainment event, and
    Amendment to adult entertainment local condition 7 to state that children and young persons will not be permitted on the premises on any day on which adult entertainment takes place or, in the case of a hotel which has children or young persons resident, that they must be excluded from any part of the hotel used for adult entertainment on any day on which that entertainment takes place.

While the Board noted all of the additional conditions which were advocated by the Violence Against Women Action Group and saw merit in many of these, given the Board’s very restricted powers in relation to regulation of adult entertainment members, members agreed that it would be more appropriate for these to be considered once legislation in respect of a separate licensing regime for sexual entertainment venues was in place, should Scottish Government decide to introduce such legislation.

Section 2.7 Home Deliveries

Members AGREED the terms of Section 2.7 of the Consultation Draft for adoption as part of the Policy Statement 2013-16.

Section 2.8 Members’ Clubs

Members AGREED to substitute the alternative wording proposed by the Inverness, Highlands and Islands Licensed Trade Association in its consultation response (which wording had also been commended by the Highland Licensing Forum) for the wording set out at section 2.8 of the Consultation Draft as the wording to be adopted as part of the Policy Statement 2013-16.

They further AGREED that the Forum’s suggestions regarding inclusion of additional statements as to the Board’s expectations of clubs, encouraging clubs to limit, via their constitutions, the number of non-members who could be signed in by a club member and encouraging clubs to ensure observance of their constitutions, be taken on board and that these statements be added to the final text.

Section 2.9 Plastic Glasses

Following debate, Mr R Laird, seconded by Mr A Duffy, moved that Option 4 in the Consultation Draft be adopted, with the start time to be determined on a case by case basis.

Mr A Henderson, seconded by Mr W MacKay, moved as an amendment that Option 1 in the Consultation Draft be adopted with a start time of 2200 hours.

On a vote being taken, four votes were cast in favour of the motion and four votes were cast in favour of the amendment, as follows:

For the motion (4):  Mr I Cockburn, Mr A Duffy, Mr R Laird and Ms M Smith.

For the Amendment (4): Mr A Henderson, Ms L MacDonald, Mr W MacKay and Mr D Millar.

There being an equality of votes, the Chairman cast her casting vote in favour of the motion.  The motion therefore became the find of the meeting and members AGREED to adopt Option 4, whereby a condition requiring use of plastic or polycarbonate glasses would be imposed on an on-sales premises (of any description) only where considered appropriate on the basis of individual risk assessment at that premises, with the hour from which the requirement would be in effect being determined also on a case by case basis.

The Depute Clerk proposed that the final draft of the Policy Statement should include explanation that imposition of this condition would be one of the steps which the Board might take in relation to particular premises on a review of the existing licence for that premises.  She also proposed that it be stated in the Policy Statement that when considering imposing the condition following a premises licence review, the Board would take advice from Police Scotland and the Licensing Standards Officder as to their assessment of any risk to public safety which might arise as a result of the continued serving of drinks in glassware at that premises.

Members AGREED these proposals and further agreed that the Clerk to the Board should write to holders of premises licences which were currently subject to a plastic glasses condition advising them that applications to vary their licences to remove the condition would be considered by the Board, in each case following consultation with Police Scotland.

Section 2.10 Outdoor Drinking

The Board AGREED the terms of section 2.10 of the Consultation Draft for adoption as part of the Policy Statement 2013-16 with the following amendments:

    Amendment of the third paragraph to require LSO approval of the boundary of an outside drinking area only where a pavement permit from TEC Serviceswas not already required.
    Inclusion of wording to clarify that the hours during which drinking will be allowed in outside drinking areas will be determined on a case by case basis having regard to the nature of the locality in which the premises are situated and any other relevant factors.

Section 2.11 Capacity

The Board AGREED the terms of section 2.11 of the Consultation Draft for adoption as part of the Policy Statement 2013-16.

Section 2.12 Personal Licences

The Board AGREED the terms of section 2.12 of the Consultation Draft for adoption as part of the Policy Statement 2013-16.

Local Conditions

The Board also AGREED that the wording of local conditions set out in the appendices be amended in the final Draft Policy Statement to correspond with the Board’s decisions in relation to the policies as detailed above.

Final Draft Policy Statement 2013-16

Finally, the Board AGREED that a Final Draft Policy Statement reflecting the matters agreed above be prepared and brought back to the Board at its next meeting for final approval and adoption.

4.  Consultation on Proposals for Overprovision Statement 2013-16
Co-chomhairle mu Mholaidhean airson Aithris Sheach-sholair 2013-16

There had been circulated Report No HLB-107-13 (1401kb pdf) by the Clerk inviting the Board to agree options in relation to proposals for an Overprovision Statement on which to consult statutory consultees and the public and to agree an appropriate consultation period.

Ms L Smart gave a presentation showing data from a number of sources.  She stated that a seven minute documentary on public opinion on overprovision had been posted today on U-tube, the Council website and on the Alcohol Focus website and invited the members to view this.

Ms Smart’s presentation included information on alcohol-related harm, sales, lifestyle, alcohol accessibility and the views of the public and the recommendations from the NHS.

In response to members’ questions, the following points were clarified:

    Assessment of overprovision at the level of community council areas was not possible, since NHS and Police Scotland statistics were not collected on the basis of these areas.
    Although it had originally been proposed to the Board in August 2012 that assessment of overprovision be done on the basis of evidence at intermediate data zone (IDZ) level, it had become apparent since then that not all relevant evidence was collected at IDZ level.  In particular, crime statistics were available at Police area and Police beat level, but not at IDZ level.
    The statistics on alcohol-related hospitalisations had been produced by NHS at multi-member ward level, but Ms Smart would investigate whether these could be broken down to IDZ level and would make this information available during the consultation period if possible.
    While it was recognised that a policy restricting grants of further premises licences for off-sales (of whatever capacity was eventually agreed) could do nothing to restrict the purchase of alcohol on-line, available evidence indicated that only a very small percentage of alcohol purchases were made on-line.

Following debate, the Board AGREED:

    To focus, in its consultation on options for a policy statement on overprovision of licensed premises in Highland, on licensed premises of the particular description recommended at paragraph 2.5 of the Clerk’s Report to the Board, and to do so on the basis that these are the premises most likely to be contributing to alcohol-related harm in Highland having regard to the evidence submitted to the Board by NHS Highland;
    To undertake statutory and public consultation on the options for proposals for the Board’s overprovision policy statement 2013-13 which were recommended by NHS Highland in Appendix 1 and in the terms recommended at paragraph 4.5 of the Clerk’s Report, inviting respondents also to make a case for alternative proposals if they so wish;
    That the consultation period should run for 6 weeks, and
    That the Clerk report back to the Board at the end of the consultation period with consultation responses and any further recommendations, with a view to the Board adopting a final statement of its policy on overprovision for inclusion in its final Policy Statement 2013-16.

The Clerk to the Board thanked the Depute Clerk, the NHS and Police Scotland for their work to date in relation to these consultations.

The meeting closed at 1.40 pm.