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LIQUOR LICENSING IN SCOTLAND, 1998-2002

5. New Applications for Liquor Licences (Tables 6 and 7)

5.1 During 2002, licensing boards considered a total of 710 new applications for liquor licences; 2 more than in 2001, but 170 fewer than in 2000. Of these, 652 (92 per cent) were granted a licence. In sixteen, mainly rural areas, all applications for liquor licences were successful. The areas where licence applications were least successful were Inverclyde (64 per cent), East Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire (both 67 per cent). Applications for on-sale licences (96 per cent granted) were likely to be slightly more successful than those for off-sale licences (87 per cent granted). Between 1998 and 2002, the percentage of on-sale licences granted has remained around 96 percent, whilst the percentage of off-sale licences granted has fluctuated between 82 and 90 per cent.

5.2 Under section 17 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976, licensing boards may refuse an application for a licence for a number of reasons (see annex note 9.6). The most common reason for refusal of both on-sale and off-sale applications in 2002 was that the granting of the application would result in the over provision of licensed premises in the locality. Chart 4 illustrates the relative frequency of individual reasons given for refusal. There may be more than one reason given for any one application being refused; combinations can be seen in Table 7.

5.3 Eighty-nine potential licence applications were withdrawn before they reached the licensing boards in 2002; 12 more than the number withdrawn in 2001. The frequency of on-sale withdrawals (64) was higher than in 2001 (50), whilst the frequency of withdrawn off-sale applications (25) was slightly less than the 27 reported for 2001. The council areas with the largest number of withdrawn applications were City of Edinburgh and Fife (both 11), followed by Highland (9). Chart 5 shows the distribution of outcomes of the total numbers of on-sale and off-sale applications, including those withdrawn, before they reached the board.

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