A Task Group was set up by the previous administration to review the licensing provisions contained in the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (the "1982 Act"). The Group reported in December 2004 and made a number of recommendations for reform. The then Scottish Executive responded to the report in August 2005 agreeing with the broad thrust of the recommendations, but indicated that those requiring primary legislation would be for a new administration to introduce following the 2007 elections, in light of competing priorities. We will take forward the relevant recommendations within the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill. The Task Group report's recommendations cover the general licensing provisions of the 1982 Act, and include specific provisions on metal dealers, market operators, public entertainment and late hours catering, taxis and private hire cars. The amendments to the 1982 Act will be largely of a technical nature affecting procedural aspects of the current licensing regime though some of the amendments contain deregulatory measures. We will take forward the relevant recommendations made in the Task Group report by making the following changes. Standard conditions attached to deemed grants Where the authority has failed to reach a final decision on a grant application before the expiry of the statutory period under the 1982 Act, the licence is statutorily deemed to have been granted unconditionally on the date of expiry and remains in force for one year. We intend to take forward the recommendation that the existing "deemed grant" provisions should be retained, but the Act should be amended to permit the application of standard conditions to any such licence. Right of entry and inspection for police civilian staff We intend to take forward the recommendation that the rights of entry and inspection in relation to constables under the 1982 Act for specified purposes (such as checking compliance with the terms of the licence), should be extended to include civilian staff employed by the police under the provisions of section 9 of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967. Display of licences We intend to take forward the recommendation, in the interests of public safety, to amend the Act to make it a mandatory condition of a licence that the licence (or a copy) be displayed on premises, vehicles (or a plate) and vessels, and where this is not practical for the licence to be carried at all times by the day-to-day manager. In the case of other activities (such as window cleaners) it was further recommended that individuals should be required to carry the licence (or a copy) on their person unless the licensing authority, under its discretionary powers, has made it a condition of licence that an identification badge be displayed or shown on demand. Representations, hearings and renewed applications We intend to take forward the recommendation to make a number of amendments to Schedules to the 1982 Act, which include, extending the time allowed for making representations on any application for the grant or renewal of a licence from 21 days to 28 days, increasing the period of notice which licensing authorities must give for attendance at a hearing from 7 days to 14 days, and allow licensing authorities to consider licence renewal applications received after the expiry date as renewals rather than applications for a new licence for up to 28 days after the expiry of the previous licence. Metal Dealers We intend to take forward the recommendation that, given the decrease in metal dealing activity over the last 20 years, the current mandatory licensing scheme for metal dealers should be replaced with an optional licensing scheme, i.e. it would be open to local licensing authorities to determine whether or not a licence is required in its area. Public Entertainment We propose to implement the recommendation that the 1982 Act be amended to remove the existing exemption for free events. This recognised that it is unsatisfactory that authorities are not able to control large scale public entertainments that are free to enter. It noted that authorities may not wish to license certain types of free event, such as gala days and school fetes, but considered that the decision on whether to license these events should rest with the authority. Late Hours Catering We will take forward the recommendation that the part of the 1982 Act covering late hours catering should be extended to ensure that licensing authorities have the power to license any premises selling food or drink at late hours. The report states that "the principal justification for licensing such premises related to the potential for large numbers of people leaving pubs, night clubs etc. late at night to cause a disturbance, and that this potential exists regardless of whether the food or drink being sold has been cooked or pre-prepared in any way". As such, we consider that licensing authorities should have the option of licensing all such premises if they consider it necessary to do so. Taxi fares - notification of decision on taxi fare scales or review Section 17(3) of the 1982 Act states: "Before fixing any scales or carrying out any review under this section the licensing authority shall- (a) consult with persons or organisations appearing to them to be, or be representative of, the operators of taxis operating within their area; and (b) give notice of their intention by advertisement in a newspaper circulating in their area stating- (i) the general effect of the proposals and the date when they propose that their decision will take effect; and (ii) that any person may lodge representations in writing with respect to the proposals within a period of one month after the date of first publication of the notice; and (c) consider any such representations duly lodged with them". The intention of the 1982 Act was that a licensing authority should before (1) fixing any scales or (2) carrying out any review of scales consult with those persons or organisations referred to at section 17(3)(a) and give notice of their intention to fix scales or undertake a review in the manner prescribed at 17(3)(b). We are aware that some authorities are unclear about the provisions with regard to the need for consultation and we propose to bring forward provisions to clarify that consultation should be undertaken both when fixing any taxi scales or when undertaking a review of taxi scales. Section 17(4) of the 1982 Act provides that where a licensing authority fix any scale or carry out any review they shall forthwith give notice in writing of their decision to such persons and organisations as were consulted under terms of subsection 17(3)(a) of the 1982 Act and informing them of the general effect of section 18(1) which advises of right to appeal. It has been noted during consideration of the Task Group report that the wording of section 17(4) in providing for only notification to those persons and organisations consulted by an authority in terms of section 17(3)(a) results in a number of people with a legitimate interest being uninformed of a council's decision and thus their right of appeal under section 18(1). Section 18(1) provides a right of appeal to "any person who operates a taxi in an area for which scales have been fixed or in respect of which a review has been carried out under section 17 of this Act". We therefore intend to provide that an authority should notify taxi operators in their area in addition to those representative persons or organisations consulted under section 17(3)(a). Taxi fares -timescale for local authority review of taxi fares Section 17(2) of the 1982 Act states: "It shall be the duty of the licensing authority to fix from time to time scales for the fares and other charges mentioned in subsection (1) above and to review these scales at intervals not exceeding 18 months from the date on which the scales came into effect (whether proceeding upon a review under this section or not)". The intention of the 1982 Act was that reviews under section 17(2) should be completed within the prescribed 18 month period and this was reflected in guidance issued in Scottish Development Department Circular 25/1986. Some authorities are interpreting the present legislation as providing that a fare scale review need only be commenced within the prescribed 18 month period, rather than commenced and completed within the 18 month period. In order to clarify this issue, we propose to bring forward provisions to make clear that taxi fare scale reviews should be commenced and completed within the 18 month prescribed period. Taxi fare appeals - right of appeal Section 18(1) of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 provides a right of appeal to "any person who operates a taxi in an area for which scales have been fixed or in respect of which a review has been carried out under section 17 of this Act". The Task Group noted that the Traffic Commissioner for the Scottish Traffic Area had proposed that section 18(1) be amended to provide that "representative bodies" as well as individual taxi operators should have the right to submit an appeal in connection with taxi fare scales set by a licensing authority. Section 17(3) as drafted provides that an authority consult with representative individuals or organisations before fixing any taxi fare scales or undertaking a review and subsequently notify these bodies under section 17(4) as to their decision and the general effect of section 18(1). In these circumstances it seems appropriate that the general appeal provisions under section 18(1) should apply to representative bodies or individuals. Consultation responses showed broad support for this amendment. We therefore intend that provisions be brought forward to extend the right of appeal to include bodies or individuals representative of operators of taxis operating in the council area. Taxi and private hire car driving licences - condition of eligibility Section 13(3) of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 states that: "a licensing authority shall not grant a licence to any person under this section unless that person has held, during any continuous period of 12 months prior to the date of his application, a licence authorising him to drive a motor car." The Task Group took the view that the provisions as currently worded allowed a driving licence to be provided where an applicant had held a driving licence for any continuous 12 month period prior to submission of their application for a taxi or private hire car driver's licence. The Task Group recommended that provisions be brought forward that require an applicant for a taxi or private hire car driver's licence to have held a driver's licence for the 12 month period immediately prior to their application. Consultation responses on this issue confirmed that there was confusion over interpretation of the present provisions and showed significant support for the amendment proposed. We will bring forward suitable provisions. Taxi fares -timescale for notification of interested parties Section 17(5) of the 1982 Act provides for notification of the council's decision on a fare scale or fare scale review to be given to interested parties not later than 5 days after the relevant decision. During its review of this section the Task Group considered that the prescribed timetable for undertaking this procedure was unnecessarily tight, particularly if broken by a weekend and/or public holiday and suggested that the prescribed notification period be extended to 7 days. The Task Group's proposal received almost unanimous support in consultee responses and we propose to bring forward suitable provisions. Relevant weblinks A Report by the Task Group Set Up to Review the Licensing Provisions Contained in the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 - December 2004 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/12/20391/48542 Scottish Executive response to Task Group Report - August 2005 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2005/08/02134157 |