Licensees call for clarification over Scottish hours
Trade associations across Scotland have joined forces to call on the Scottish Executive to reassure the trade over its new licensing laws.
The Scottish Beer & Pub Association (SBPA) in partnership with the British Hospitality Association and the Scottish Grocer's Federation have written with their concerns to the Executive's licensing minister, George Lyon, MSP.
They want him to give "reassurances" that all licensed premises will have their existing hours transferred over to the new licensing regime, which is due to come into force in late 2007.
The Scottish Executive has indicated that "grandfather rights" - added in at the last minute in the English reform - are unlikely to be considered under the new system. Scotland's licences will be abolished to be replaced by a premises licence and a personal licence, while permitted hours will also be scrapped to allow licensing boards to set closing times.
In the letter to the minister, the organisations - which represent 7,000 premises across the country - have called on him to minimise the potential cost to businesses of the transition.
They claim uncertainty will risk impacting on the value of licensed premises and will stop investment plans - especially by major UK companies.
"The Scottish Executive should not ignore the fact that there is real concern amongst Scotland's licensed industry about the potential impact of licensing reform," said Patrick Browne, chief executive of the SBPA.
"The fact that three trade bodies covering diverse elements of the trade, accounting for nearly half of all Scotland's licensed premises, have come together to call for guarantees should leave the Executive in no doubt that it needs to respond positively to the licensed industry's concerns."
A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said: "We have held early discussions with each of the trade associations about transitional arrangements and grandfather rights because we fully understand that this is a very important issue for the licensed trade.
"Ministers are presently considering their options, but have always made it clear that wholesale grandfather rights in Scotland, on the England and Wales model, would not be acceptable.
