Occasional licences could be subject to new controls

Occasional licences to sell alcohol could be subject to new controls put out to consultation this week by Scottish ministers.

The proposals come in the wake of concerns that some applicants have sought to use the occasional licence process to apply for consecutive occasional licences as an alternative to a full premises licence, allowing them to circumvent parts of the licensing regime.

Occasional licences are intended is to cater for events taking place on premises that are not fully licensed but feature the sale of alcohol, for example fetes, wedding receptions and arts events. When used in their envisaged role, occasional licences offer a flexible regime for the hospitality and entertainment sector to provide alcohol at events outside licensed premises.

The purpose of the consultation is to consult on whether to raise the fee for an occasional licence from the current price of £10, and if so, what that new fee level should be (£50, £75 and £100 are suggested in the paper). It also seeks views on considering a limit on the number and duration of occasional licences for premises licence holders and personal licence holders. On this, the paper makes no specific proposals.

Click here to access the consultation. The deadline for responses is 16 July 2019.