Alcohol Licensing Laws of The United Kingdom - Licensing Law in Scotland

Licensing Law in Scotland

Scotland has had separate licensing laws dating back to the 18th century. The current legislation is the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, which replaced the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 on 1 September 2009. The replaced licensing laws provided for seven types of liquor licence, and were administered by licensing boards, made up of councillors elected to the local authority. There were approximately 30 licensing boards in Scotland and each had its own distinct approach-for example, whilst there is a set "permitted hours" across Scotland, these were frequently extended in order to take account of early morning and late night trading, and each licensing board had its own views on what sort of extra hours a premises should be given.

As of 1 February 2008, Scotland entered a "transitional period" in the run-up to the commencement of new licensing legislation—the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. The 2005 Act is, in many respects, similar to the English Licensing Act 2003: it features the four English licensing objectives, but adds another: "protecting and improving public health". The Act creates one class of licence—the premises licence—and also introduces personal licences for those working in the trade. The administration continues to be carried out by licensing boards, but the Act has created new "Licensing Forums" in order to increase community involvement, and "Licensing Standards Officers" who have an information, mediation, and compliance role.

One major change is that Sunday opening hours will be changed to match the rest of the UK, allowing sales from 10:00, rather than 12:30 with the 1976 Act.