Review of Alcohol Licensing Fees - Steering Group: Recommendations to Scottish Ministers

Recommendations

The group agreed that the Scottish Government should take steps to place a duty on Licensing Boards to account for their costs and fee income in a transparent manner. This will allow them to demonstrate that the fees regimes operate on a cost recovery basis (unless they choose to make a deficit).

The group agreed that although they are not recommending substantive changes to the fees regime at this time, it will be necessary to revisit the issue once there is better data available from the new duty on Boards to report their costs and income. Furthermore, it is likely that there will be a business rates revaluation in 2017 so it may be appropriate to wait until information on this process is available before taking further action.

The group agreed that the fee for occasional licences should be raised higher than its current £10 cost. It was agreed that Boards should have some discretion about how much to charge; to enable them to charge, for example, charity meetings less than commercial entities. The group suggested that a range of £20 - £80 may be appropriate for this purpose.

The group agreed that it may be appropriate to revisit the special status awarded to members clubsMembers' Clubs. Currently there is insufficient data to make specific recommendations, however more work should be done to consider whether some clubs are operating as commercial enterprises, and if so, whether their special status in the fees regime is still appropriate.