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F118B Conditions for existing licences

(1)This section applies to premises in respect of which a licence has been granted, whether before or after the coming into force of this section, under section 17 of this Act where no conditions have been attached to the licence in pursuance of section 18A of this Act.

(2)Where it appears to a licensing board that an event to which section 18A of this Act applies may be held on premises to which this section applies, the board shall convene a meeting for the purpose of attaching to the licence the conditions specified in subsection (1) of that section.

(3)The clerk to the licensing board shall, not later than 21 days before the date of the meeting to be held under subsection (2) above, serve on the holder of the licence and send to the chief constable a notice of—

(a)the meeting;

(b)where the Secretary of State has prescribed the terms of any prescribed conditions, such terms;

(c)in the case of any other prescribed conditions, the terms proposed by the board; and

(d)where the board proposes to attach any other conditions to the licence, the terms of such conditions.

(4)At the meeting held under subsection (2) above, unless the holder of the licence satisfies the board that no event to which section 18A of this Act applies will be held on the premises, the board shall attach to the licence the prescribed conditions and such other conditions as it considers necessary in the terms determined in accordance with subsection (5) below.

(5)In determining—

(a)whether the board is satisfied as mentioned in subsection (4) above; or

(b)what conditions (other than prescribed conditions) to attach to a licence or the terms (other than such terms as are prescribed) of such conditions,

the board shall have regard to any observations submitted by the chief constable and any other person or body mentioned in section 16(1) of this Act.

(6)Subsections (2) to (4) of section 16 of this Act shall apply in relation to any observations made under subsection (5) above as they apply in relation to any objection made under that section; and for the purposes of such application any reference in the said subsections (2) to (4)—

(a)to an application shall be construed as a reference to conditions proposed to be attached to the licence;

(b)to the applicant shall be construed as a reference to the holder of the licence;

(c)to an objection shall be construed as a reference to an observation;

(d)to the proper address of the applicant shall be construed as a reference to the address at which notice is served on the holder of the licence under subsection (3) above,

and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.

(7)The terms of conditions to be attached to the licence in pursuance of subsection (4) above are—

(a)in the case of the prescribed conditions—

(i)where the terms of any condition have been prescribed, such terms;

(ii)where the description of any condition has been prescribed, such terms as the board considers appropriate;

(b)in the case of any other condition notified under subsection (3)(d) above, such terms as the board consider appropriate; and

(c)in the case of any condition not so notified, such terms as are agreed with the holder of the licence.

(8)Subsections (5) to (10) of section 18A of this Act shall apply to conditions attached to a licence under subsection (4) above as they apply to conditions attached to a licence under section 18A(1) of this Act.

(9)The clerk to the licensing board shall forthwith intimate to the holder of the licence—

(a)where the board is satisfied that no event to which section 18A of this Act will be held on the premises, that fact; and

(b)where the board attaches conditions to the licence, such conditions by sending to the holder of the licence a copy of the licence with the conditions attached.

(10)In this section “prescribed conditions" has the same meaning as in section 18A of this Act.]

19 Canvassing

(1)If any applicant for the grant, renewal [F1, permanent transfer, temporary transfer under section 25(1A) of this Act or confirmation of transfer under subsection (4) of that section] of a licence or for a regular extension of permitted hours, either by himself or by another person at the instigation of the applicant, attempts to influence a member of a licensing board to support his application at any time before its consideration by the board, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(2)If proceedings are pending under subsection (1) above, the licensing board may adjourn consideration of an application to which the proceedings relate until the proceedings are concluded.

(3)If an applicant is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) above in relation to an application before the board, the board may refuse to consider the application.

20 Register of applications and decisions

The clerk of each licensing board shall keep a register of applications for licences and shall, at the end of each day’s meeting of the board, enter in the register the decisions taken on the applications.

This register shall be available to any member of the public at times and places to be determined by the clerk.

21 Issue of licences

(1)The clerk of each licensing board shall make out and deliver a licence to every person to whom a licence is granted by the board [F1and shall do so within 28 days of the grant of the licence].

(2)The clerk of a licensing board board shall, [F2on application], make out a duplicate of any licence issued by him under this section and shall certify such duplicate to be a true copy of the original licence, and any such duplicate, duly certified as aforesaid, shall be sufficient evidence of the facts therein contained and of the terms of the original licence.

[F3(3)The period of 28 days referred to in subsection (1) above shall not include a day which is a Sunday, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Good Friday, a bank holiday, or a public holiday, or a day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning.]

22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1

23 Special provisions relating to applications for new licence

(1)Subject to subsection (6) of this section, an application for the grant or provisional grant of a new licence (other than an off-sale licence) shall not be entertained by a licensing board unless there are produced to the board, in accordance with the provisions of this section, certificates from the appropriate authority as to the suitability of the premises for which the licence is sought in relation to planning, building control and food hygiene.

(2)In relation to planning, the certificate from the appropriate authority should state that the applicant has obtained in respect of the premises planning permission under the M1Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972 or, in the case of an application for the provisional grant of a licence, outline planning permission under sections 39 and 40 of that Act, or, in either case, a determination under section 51 of that Act that planning permission is not required [F1or a certificate under section 90A of that Act that the proposed use or operations would be lawful as mentioned in the said section 90A.].

(3)In relation to building control, the certificate from the appropriate authority—

(a)in the case of an application for a new licence, should state—

(i)either that a warrant for the construction of the premises has been granted under section 6 of the M2Building (Scotland) Act 1959 and a certificate of completion has been granted under section 9 of that Act, or that no warrant for construction of the premises is required; and

(ii)either that a warrant for the change of use of the premises has been granted under the said section 6 or that no such warrant is required; and

(b)in the case of an application for the provisional grant of a licence, should state—

(i)that a warrant for the construction of the premises has been granted under section 6 of the said Act of 1959; and

(ii)either that a warrant for the change of use of the premises has been granted under the said section 6, or that on completion of the construction of the premises in accordance with the warrant a warrant for the change of use will be granted, or that no such warrant is required.

Expressions used in this subsection and in the said Act of 1959 have the same meanings in this subsection as they have in that Act.

(4)In relation to food hygiene, the certificate from the appropriate authority should, in the case of an application for a new licence, state that the premises to which the application relates comply, or, in the case of an application for the provisional grant of a licence, would comply, with the requirements of regulations made under [F2section 16 of the M3Food Safety Act 1990] relating to construction, layout, drainage, ventilation, lighting and water supply or concerned with the provision of sanitary and washing facilities.

(5)Before granting or making the provisional grant of a new licence, the licensing board shall consult the fire authority for the area.

(6)In relation to building control, food hygiene and consultation with the fire authority, subsections (1), (3), (4) and (5) of this section shall not apply to the application for or the making of a provisional grant of a licence under section 26(2) of this Act but shall apply to the application for affirmation and to the affirmation of such a grant.

(7)In this section, [F3the appropriate authority is the council].

24 Special provisions relating to applications for renewal of a licence

(1)Before granting the renewal of a licence, the licensing board shall consult the fire authority for the area.

(2)On any application for the renewal of a licence, the licensing board may require a plan of the premises to which the application relates to be produced to it and lodged with the clerk.

25 Transfer of licences

(1)A licensing board may, on an application made to the board in that behalf, F1. . . transfer to a new tenant or [F2to a new or existing] occupant of any licensed premises the licence then subsisting in respect of those premises.

[ F3(1A)At any time, a licensing board may make such a transfer on a temporary basis and the licence so transferred shall have effect until the appropriate meeting of the board, which shall be—

(a)the next meeting of the board; or

(b)where the temporary transfer has been made within the period of 6 weeks before the first day of the next meeting, the next following meeting of the board.

(1B)At the appropriate meeting and on an application for a permanent transfer, the licensing board shall make a decision on the permanent transfer of the licence transferred temporarily under subsection (1A) above.

(1C)Where a board refuses to make a permanent transfer of a licence which has been temporarily transferred under subsection (1A) above, the licence so transferred shall have effect until the time within which an appeal may be made has elapsed or, if an appeal has been lodged, until the appeal has been abandoned or determined.]

(2)A licensing board may, on an application made to it in that behalf by—

(a)the executors, representatives or disponees of any person who held a licence in respect of premises situated within the area of the board and who has died before the expiry of the licence; or

(b)the trustee, judicial factor or curator bonis of any person holding such a licence who has become bankrupt, insolvent or incapable before the expiry of the licence;

transfer the licence to the applicant if the applicant is in possession of the premises.

(3)A licensing board may, on an application made to it in that behalf by a person other than an individual natural person, substitute another employee or agent of the applicant for the employee or agent mentioned in section 11 or 26 of this Act.

[F4(4)A licence transferred by virtue of subsection (2) or (3) above shall have effect until the next meeting of the licensing board, which, on an application for confirmation of the transfer of the licence, shall consider whether it is satisfied that the person to whom the licence has been transferred is a fit and proper person to be the holder of a licence and—

(a)if it is so satisfied, it shall confirm the transfer of the licence; and;

(b)if it is not so satisfied, it shall refuse to confirm the transfer.

(4A)In considering the fitness of the person to whom the licence has been transferred, the licensing board may have regard to any misconduct on his part, whether or not constituting a breach of this Act or any byelaw made thereunder, which in its opinion has a bearing on his fitness to hold a licence.

(4B)If the transfer of a licence has been confirmed under subsection (4) above, the licence shall have effect, in accordance with subsections (4) and (5) of section 30 of this Act, until the quarterly meeting of the licensing board three years after the meeting at which the licence was originally granted or renewed by a licensing board.

(4C)If a licensing board refuses to confirm the transfer of a licence under subsection (4) above, the person to whom the licence had been transferred may appeal to the sheriff against that refusal and the licence shall have effect until the time within which an appeal may be made has elapsed or, if an appeal has been lodged, until the appeal has been abandoned or determined.]

(5)Where a licence is transferred under this section to any person, the clerk of the licensing board shall, on payment of the appropriate fee, endorse on the licence a note of the transfer.

(6)Any licence transferred under this section shall be held subject to the conditions on which it was originally granted.

(7)A transfer of a licence under subsection [F5(1) or] (1) above is in this Act referred to as a permanent transfer.

26 Provisional grant of licence

(1)A licensing board may, on an application in that behalf made to the board by any person interested in premises about to be constructed or in course of construction for use as licensed premises, make a provisional grant of a licence in respect of those premises if the board is satisfied—

(a)that the premises will be fit and convenient for their purpose, and

(b)that, if the premises had been completed in accordance with the plan thereof lodged with the board in pursuance of section 10 of this Act, the board would on application have granted such a licence in respect thereof.

(2)If on an application under this section the applicant lodges with the board, instead of the plan mentioned in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) above, a plan sufficient to identify the site of the premises, together with such description of the premises as will give a general indication of their proposed size and character (with reference in particular to the sale of alcoholic liquor), then—

(a)the licensing board shall deal with the application as if made under subsection (1) above; but

(b)any provisional grant of a licence made on an application under this subsection shall become ineffective unless affirmed by the licensing board on application made to the board to that effect within 12 months of the provisional grant of the licence, any such application being accompanied by a plan of the premises.

(3)A licensing board may consider any application made to it under paragraph (b) of subsection (2) above at any meeting of the board held not earlier than 14 days after the making of the application and shall affirm the provisional grant if the board is satisfied that the premises, if completed in accordance with the plan mentioned in that paragraph, will be fit and convenient for their purpose and that the said plan does not deviate materially from the site plan and description of the premises lodged under the said subsection (2).

(4)A licence of which a provisional grant has been made as aforesaid shall not come into force until such grant is declared final by the licensing board, and subject to subsection (6) below, the board shall, on being so requested, declare the grant final if it is satisfied either—

(a)that the premises in respect of which the grant was made have been completed in accordance with the plan thereof lodged with the board, or

(b)that the premises have been completed and that such deviations from the said plan as exist are of minor importance and have not materially altered the character of the premises or the facilities for the supply of alcoholic liquor thereat.

(5)A licensing board shall not entertain a request to declare the provisional grant of a licence final unless the person to whom the grant was made has given to the board such notice of his intention to make the request as may be prescribed.

(6)In the case of a request by a person other than an individual natural person that the licensing board shall declare the provisional grant of a licence final, that person shall include in the notice mentioned in subsection (5) above the name of the employee or agent whom it is intended should have the day to day running of the premises, and the board shall not declare the provisional grant final if it finds that the employee or agent so named in the notice is not a fit and proper person to be the holder of a licence.

(7)Where a licensing board declares a provisional grant final in such a case as is described in subsection (6) above, the licence shall be in the names of both persons mentioned in that subsection, and any reference in this Act to the holder of a licence includes a reference to both of those persons.

(8)Until the date of the first renewal of licences provisionally granted under subsection (1) or (2) above after those licences have been declared final, subsections (2) to (5) of section 30 of this Act shall have effect in relation to those licences with the substitution in subsection (3) of section 30 of a reference to one year instead of the reference to three years.

(9)A licensing board may refuse to renew a licence provisionally granted under subsection (1) or (2) above if the board considers that there has been unreasonable delay on the part of the applicant in completing the premises.

(10)An applicant may appeal to the sheriff against a decision of a licensing board to refuse to affirm a licence under subsection (2) above or to refuse to declare a provisional grant of a licence final under subsection (4) above.

27 Grant of provisional licence

A licensing board may grant a provisional licence to the holder of any licence to enable him to carry on business in temporary premises during the reconstruction of his premises.

28 Licence not to be granted for premises on special roads

(1)Premises shall be disqualified for receiving a licence if they are situated on land acquired or appropriated by a special road authority, and for the time being used, for the provision of facilities to be used in connection with the use of a special road provided for the use of traffic of class 1 (with or without other classes).

(2)For the purposes of this section—

(a)“special road" and “special road authority" have the same meanings as in the [F1M1Roads (Scotland) Act 1984], and

(b)“class 1" means class 1 in Schedule [F23 to that Act, as varied from time to time by any order under section 8] of that Act, but, if that Schedule is amended by such an order so as to add to it a further class of traffic, the order may adapt the reference in this section to traffic of Class 1 so as to take account of the additional class.

29 Alcoholic liquor which may be sold under licence

(1)A licence granted under this Act by a licensing board shall authorise the holder thereof to sell by retail spirits, wine, made-wine, porter, ale, beer, cider, perry, and any other alcoholic liquor:

(2)Where by virtue of a decision of a licensing board under the proviso to subsection (1) above only alcoholic liquor other than spirits may be sold, it shall be an offence for the licence-holder or his employee or agent to sell spirits.

30 Currency of licence

(1)A new licence shall come into effect on being granted by a licensing board, except that where there were objections at the hearing the licence shall not come into effect until—

(a)the time within which an appeal may be made has elapsed, or

(b)where an appeal has been lodged, the appeal has been abandoned or determined in favour of the applicant for the licence.

(2)A renewed licence shall come into effect on being renewed by a licensing board.

(3)A licence shall have effect in accordance with the following provisions of this section until the quarterly meeting of the licensing board three years after the meeting at which the licence was granted or renewed by a licensing board.

(4)Subject to section 13(2) of this Act, if no application is made for the renewal of a licence at the quarterly meeting mentioned in subsection (3) above, the licence shall expire on the first day of that meeting.

(5)If an application is made for the renewal of a licence, the licence in respect of which the application is made shall continue to have effect—

(a)until the application for renewal is granted by the board;

(b)if the application for renewal is refused, until the time within which an appeal may be made has elapsed or, if an appeal has been lodged, until the appeal has been abandoned or determined.

31 Suspension of licence on receipt of complaint

(1)Where on a complaint being made to a licensing board by any person or body mentioned in section 16(1) of this Act the board is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so, it may, in accordance with the provisions of this section, suspend a licence.

(2)A licensing board may order the suspension of a licence on one or both of the following grounds—

(a)that the licence-holder is no longer a fit and proper person to be the holder of a licence;

(b)that the use of the premises in respect of which the licence is held has caused undue public nuisance or a threat to public order or safety.

[F1(c)that there has been a breach of the conditions attached to the licence under section 18A(1) or 18B(4) of this Act.]

(3)In considering a complaint under this section, the licensing board may have regard to—

(a)any misconduct on the part of the holder of the licence, whether or not constituting a breach of this Act or any byelaw made thereunder [F2or of any condition attached to a licence under the said section 18A(1) or 18B(4)], which in the opinion of the board has a bearing on his fitness to hold a licence;

(b)any misconduct on the part of persons frequenting licensed premises occurring in those premises or any misconduct in the immediate vicinity of licensed premises which is attributable to persons frequenting those premises.

(4)On receipt of a complaint under this section, the licensing board shall decide whether or not to hold a hearing on the issue and shall inform the complainer of the board’s decision in the matter.

(5)Where the licensing board decides to hold a hearing as mentioned in subsection (4) above—

(a)the clerk of the board shall serve on the holder of the licence, not less than 21 days before the hearing, a notice that the board proposes to hold a hearing, specifying the complaint and the grounds upon which suspension of the licence is sought;

(b)the clerk of the board shall give notice of the hearing to the complainer;

(c)any person or body mentioned in section 16(1) of this Act may, not less than 7 days before the hearing, lodge notice with the clerk of the board that he or it wishes to be heard in support of suspension of the licence specifying the grounds on which he or it seeks such suspension, and any such notice shall be intimated by such person to the holder of the licence;

(d)the board shall not order suspension of a licence without hearing the holder thereof unless after receiving due notice of the hearing the holder fails to appear.

[F3(5A)Where the licensing board decides to hold a hearing as mentioned in subsection (4) above in respect of a complaint under this section which was made by a person or body other than the chief constable, the chief constable may, not less than 7 days before the hearing, lodge with the clerk of the board observations in respect of the proposed suspension of the licence, and any such observations shall be intimated by the chief constable to the holder of the licence.]

(6)Where a licensing board decides to order the suspension of a licence, the suspension shall not take effect until the expiry of the time within which the holder of the licence may appeal to the sheriff, or, if the holder appeals to the sheriff or thereafter to the Court of Session, until the appeal has been determined in favour of the suspension or has been abandoned.

(7)The period of the suspension of a licence under this section shall be a fixed period not exceeding one year or the unexpired portion of the duration of the licence, whichever is the less, and the effect of the suspension is that the licence shall cease to have effect during the period of the suspension.

(8)The holder of the licence may appeal to the sheriff against any order of a licensing board under this section, including the period of suspension mentioned in the order.