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3. LIQUOR LICENCES, BY TYPE OF PREMISES AND COUNCIL AREA
There were 17,021 liquor licences in force in Scotland at 31st December 2007 ( Table 1). Thirty-seven per cent of those were for off-sale premises, 30 per cent for public houses, and 15 per cent for hotels (including restricted hotels). The remaining 18 per cent of licences were for restaurants, entertainment and refreshment premises.
The number of liquor licences in force at the end of 2007 was 213 less (1 per cent) than in 2006, and 554 (3 per cent) less than the figure for 1997.
Chart 1
Liquor licences in force in Scotland at 31 st December, by type of premises, 1997 - 2007
The balance of off-sale to on-sale licences has remained relatively stable since 1997 ( Tables 1 and 2). The number of on-sale licences of different types, however, has gradually changed over the past decade. This change from 1997 to 2007 is illustrated by Chart 1. There has been a general decline in the number of hotel licences (excluding restricted hotels) from 2,609 (15 per cent of all licences) in 1997, to 2,174 (13 per cent of all licences) in 2007. Over the same period the proportion of restaurant and entertainment licences has remained fairly steady at 9 per cent and 5 per cent of all licences, respectively. However the number of refreshment licences has increased substantially from 380 (2 per cent of all licences) in 1997 to 673 in 2007 (4 per cent of all licences).
Chart 2
Off-sale premises by type 2007
The distribution of licences by type of premises varied across the council areas ( Table 3 and 4). The more rural areas tended to have a higher proportion of hotel licences and a lower proportion of public house licences, while in the more densely populated areas the reverse tended to be the case. For example, at 31st December 2007, 35 per cent of licences in the Eilean Siar council area were hotel or restricted hotel licences and 12 per cent were for public houses; whereas in Glasgow City, 38 per cent of licences were for public houses and only 4 per cent were for hotel and restricted hotel licences.
The number of off-sale licences rose from 4,899 in 1980 to 6,397 in 1999, an increase of 31 per cent. Since then the number of off-sales licences has remained rather static with 6,232 in 2007. The distribution of off-sale licences of different types is illustrated in Chart 2. Information on the type of premises was available for 4,446 off-sale licences, 71 per cent of the total. Of these, shops accounted for 73 per cent of known off-sale licences with 3,224. Supermarkets accounted for 575 licences (13 per cent of known off-sale licences) while garages accounted for 184 licences (4 per cent of known off-sale licences).
At 31st December 2007, there were 42 licences in force for every 10,000 persons aged 18 years and over in Scotland; this figure has changed very little over the past five years ( Table 2). However, there was considerable variation in this rate between council areas. The areas with the highest number of licences in force per 10,000 population aged 18 years and over tended to be those in the more rural areas ( Table 3) such as Shetland Islands (91), Highlands (72), Orkney Islands (87) and Argyll and Bute (68). The more urban council areas outside of the cities tended to have the lowest number of licences per 10,000 population aged 18 years and over, for example East Dunbartonshire (19), East Renfrewshire (20), North Lanarkshire (27) and South Lanarkshire (26). Of the four main cities, Edinburgh had the most licences per 10,000 population aged 18 years and over (50), followed by Dundee (41), Glasgow (40) and Aberdeen (38).
At 31st December 2007, there were 15 off-sale licences in force for every 10,000 persons aged 18 years and over in Scotland ( Table 4). This rate varied from as low as 9 in East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire, up to 31 in the Shetland Islands and 38 in the Orkney Islands. Off-sale licences as a proportion of the total number of licences per council area was the highest in Clackmannanshire (52 per cent) and lowest in Angus, Highland and Argyll and Bute (30 per cent).
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