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THE LICENSING (SCOTLAND) BILL: AN ANALYSIS OF CONSULTATION RESPONSES
ELEVEN: REGISTERED CLUBS
34. What conditions should be attached to the premises licence to recognise the special character of clubs?
11.1 Sixty-three responses were submitted, a small number simply expressing a view that the same conditions should apply to any licensed premises, regardless of its character, and a few (offering no substantive response) noted that they would like to be able to comment on any national conditions before they were adopted.
11.2 Most of the responses singled out a particular condition which they thought important - customers should be registered members and bona fide guests only, police should have right of entry, they should adhere to their constitution, minimum level of staff training. More generally, a majority recommended that a condition should be that clubs should continue to adhere to the requirements placed on registered clubs in the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976. One suggestion was also that they should have to make a statement that they were not commercial premises and were not competing with commercial operators.
11.3 It was proposed that the operating plan should minimally specify: the name of the club; the address of the premises in respect of which the premises licence is sought; a plan of the premises; the club secretary, and an address for notification if other than the premises; the date the club was first established; and the full name, and date and place of birth of each office-bearer of the club. The operating plan should also explain how the club will uphold the licensing principles, and would include sections relating, specifically, to management, employees, children and young persons, operating hours, and its constitution.
11.4 Three consultees also recommended that clubs should not be included in calculations for overprovision because they do not sell to the public.
35. Do you agree that the bar manager or steward should be the designated personal licence holder?
11.5 The majority (three fifths of 65 responses) who agreed had no significant additional comments, apart from sharing qualifications of their support founded on the fact that in some premises or clubs the bar steward would not be as appropriate for the role of designated personal licence holder as would be the overall manager or person with general responsibility for day-to-day running of the establishment. Clubs, especially in rural areas, often do not have bar managers but are staffed by committee members, in which case one of them would have to assume the role.
11.6 Some of the comments by those who rejected the idea echoed comments by supporters about the nature of clubs and staffing, recommending that office bearers, such as the club president or secretary, should assume the role.
36. Are there any very small clubs which should be exempt from the personal licence requirements?
11.7 Those who thought that no very small clubs should be exempt - almost three quarters of the 69 who included it in their submission, including six representatives of sectors where small clubs are common - largely did so on the grounds that, no matter the size or turnover, there should be no exceptions, that it would be extremely difficult to classify what was 'a very small club' and that it might be abused. One suggestion was that the size of the club could be taken into account by the use of a sliding scale of retention fees based on annual turnover.
11.8 Arguments for exempting such clubs also cited the issue of definition. A few consultees thought that clubs should be encouraged to apply for occasional licences where they did not have a premises one. Thresholds for definition of 'very small club' based on member numbers or turnover were proposed as personal licence requirements were thought to be potentially too onerous on certain establishments.
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