Trade group withdraws action against Glasgow Council

The Scottish Beer & Pub Association (SBPA) has withdrawn its action to force a judicial review of Glasgow Licensing Board's policy on the use of plastic and toughened glass.

The SBPA says it has made the decision following major changes to the original policy agreed by the Glasgow Licensing Board in late June, a few days before the judicial review was originally due to be heard in the court of session.

Currently the ban means drinks have to be served in plastic or toughened glasses in all venues with entertainment licences. This was set to be rolled out to all the city's pubs by the end of the year. But the licensing board will instead target those venues which have the highest incidence of glassing attacks.

Licensees had been concerned that serving drinks in toughened glass would give the wrong impression to customers that Glasgow was not a safe place to have a night out.

Patrick Browne, SBPA chief executive, said: "We always recognised that the licensing board in Glasgow was acting in good faith in trying to address the issue of 'glassing' incidents in the city, but we believed that the board's original attempt to have a blanket use on the use of toughened glass was wrong and outside of the board's powers.

"We had our legal action continued in the Court of Session until we had had an opportunity to seek clarification from the licensing board and from our members as regards how the amended policy would affect them.

"Having reviewed these responses it is evident that the board has significantly amended the policy, by, for example, having it apply only after midnight and confirmation that the policy will not apply to off sales made in pubs."

The SBPA says it still believes there are practical issues with the policy which is needs to work with the licensing board on.