Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Act 2010: guidance for licensing boards

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 This Guidance has been prepared and issued in order to assist with the implementation of the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Act 2010 (the "Alcohol Act"). Sections 2 to 13 of the Alcohol Act make amendments to the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 (the "2005 Act"). The guidance is issued under section 142(1) of the 2005 Act and has been laid before Parliament. The Alcohol Act can be viewed at the Legislation.gov.uk website at the following address:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2010/18/contents/enacted

1.2 A list of the orders and regulations made under the Alcohol Act and related orders made under the 2005 Act is provided in Annex A to this Guidance.

1.3 Provisions in the Alcohol Act that are being commenced will commence on 1 October 2011, except for the provision in section 12 relating to the chief constables' reports to Licensing Boards and Local Licensing Forums, which comes into force on 1 April 2012. This is because part of the obligation for the Report is to set out information relating to a full year preceding the end of a financial year. So the first year a report could realistically be produced would be from 1 April 2012 and would set out matters relating to the financial year 2011-12 (starting in April 2011).

1.4 This Guidance is provided for Licensing Boards, but we hope that local authorities, the Police, Local Licensing Forums, Licensing Standards Officers, and the licensed trade and their representatives may also find it useful.