Dundee Licensing Forum - 06/07/2011

At a MEETING of the DUNDEE LICENSING FORUM held at Dundee on 6th July, 2011.

Present:-

Dundee Licensing Forum

Dundee Licensing Board

Councillors

Chris SLOAN, Convener, in the Chair.

I APOLOGIES

Apologies were intimated from Councillor Fordyce, Liz Kay, Katrina Finnon, Graeme Petrie and Kirsty Licence.

II MINUTE OF MEETING OF DUNDEE LICENSING FORUM OF 19TH APRIL, 2011

The minute of the above meeting was submitted and approved.

III MEMBERSHIP

(a) REPRESENTATION FROM YOUNG PEOPLE

It was reported that Matt Landsburgh, Chair of Dundee Youth Council had expressed an interest in being involved with the Forum. The Convener and the Secretary would meet with him over the summer to discuss this further and report to the next meeting of the Forum.

(b) REPRESENTATION FROM THE OFF-SALES SECTOR

It was noted that following the resignation of Hamish Tait, there was no representation from the off-sales sector. It was remitted to the Secretary to contact Mr Tait to ask if he could suggest a possible representative from this sector.

(c) REPRESENTATION FROM ON-SALES SECTOR

It was reported that Allan Friel-Myles had tendered his resignation from the Forum. It was noted that Scott Clark (Braes) had previously intimated an interest in becoming a member of the Forum and it was remitted to the Secretary to contact him in this connection.

In addition, it was remitted to the Secretary and contact the Chair of the Dundee Licensed Trade Association to confirm who they wished to be their nominee on the Forum.

IV ALCOHOL ETC (SCOTLAND) ACT 2010 - DRAFT GUIDANCE FOR LICENSING BOARDS

There was submitted a copy of draft guidance for Licensing Boards to assist with the implementation of the Alcohol Etc (Scotland) Act 2010.

Whilst Licensing Forums had not been formally consulted, this did not preclude the Forum from forwarding any comments to the Scottish Government.

The Forum considered the guidance in detail and remitted to the Secretary to forward the Forum's comments to the Scottish Government.

V BOTTLE MARKING SCHEME

Reference was made to paragraph VI of the minute of meeting of the Forum of 8th June, 2010, wherein the Forum agreed to recommend to the Licensing Board that a bottle marking scheme be introduced as a Supplement to their Statement of Licensing Policy, 2011/2014. The Board subsequently carried out a pilot scheme in two areas of Dundee, the outcome of which was reported to the Board on 21st April, 2011. At that time the Board had agreed to carry out a further consultation with various bodies, including the Forum.

The Forum expressed the undernoted views:-

- Participation in the scheme should be mandatory.

- The scheme should be confined to premises only with off-sales facilities.

- Implementation of the scheme should be City-wide.

It was remitted to the Secretary with full details of the Forum's views to respond to the consultation by the deadline of 31st July, 2011.

VI BEST BAR NONE 2011

Morag Douglas gave an update on Best Bar None 2011. It was noted that numbers were down on previous years. This was due to a number of factors, including lack of awareness from the general public, the difficulty of convincing licensees of the benefits of the scheme and difficulties in involving community-type premises and social clubs.

Efforts were being made to encourage more premises to participate. It was noted that the Licensing Board had been extremely supportive, and the Forum expressed their thanks in this connection.

It was also reported that Tayside Fire and Rescue were carrying out audits in all licensed premises and, where possible, were doing this in conjunction with Best Bar None Assessments.

VII LICENSING FORUM REVIEW

The Convener suggested that it would be useful to distribute a questionnaire to Forum members in order to review the work of the Forum over the last few years, particularly its effectiveness, and possible improvements.

The Forum approved this proposal.

VIII STATEMENT OF LICENSING POLICY 2011/2014

There was discussion regarding the undernoted matters:-

- possible mandatory condition on "on-sales" premises regarding the upkeep and condition of fixtures and fittings.

- possible mandatory conditions on premises for occasional licences, including training of staff and the number of permissions for a single premise.

It was agreed that these matters would be placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the Forum for further discussion, and with a view to making a recommendation to the Licensing Board.

IX DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Tuesday, 6th September, at 2.00 pm in the City Chambers, Dundee.