Beda Bulletin

March 2007

Operational, Beda Bulletin, March 2007, COMMENTS

My relationship with Scotland began many years ago. I was living and working in Glasgow nineteen years ago after I graduated from university. My wife comes from Glasgow and my mum’s family hail from Edinburgh - a place I’ve also lived and worked - so I’ve got some minimal Caledonian credentials.
That doesn’t mean I’ll be doing a Rod Stewart and start pretending to be a proper son of St Andrew. I didn’t, for instance, wear a kilt when I got married in Glasgow, as that wouldn’t be either appropriate for a man who grew up in Yorkshire – nor would it have been a pleasant sight for the guests. I do however have an abiding love for the country and recognise that Scotland and its peoples have a deep-rooted need (and a right) to find their own solutions to particular issues which affect them. Clearly the Scottish way of doing things is not always the same as their English cousins - and this is not necessarily a bad thing.

This is undoubtedly an eventful year for the licensed trade in Scotland. With the SIA registration coming to Scotland in November and the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 also on the horizon (with transition starting in early 2008), it is testing times again for the country. Interestingly on the Licensing (Scotland) Act, we may be reaching a degree of agreement across the licensed trade. The SLTA is happy for its members to operate up until 1am and for late night operators to trade the late night hours.

It was no surprise to BEDA when last year’s AMEC 4 figures showed that the late night sector had a significantly lower failure rate for selling to drunks or to under age than any other sector of the licensed trade. This is because an extra level of vigilance has been part of the late night sector for some time.
BEDA is lobbying for an acknowledgement from the Scottish Executive that to operate in the late night market in Scotland a number of reasonable mandatory conditions must apply. This could include:

• A minimum of two stewards need to be present from 1am regardless of capacity. Beyond 100 customers the ratio of stewards to security staff should be 1:100 (industry standard) to ensure a proper level of safety.
• All premises should have a drugs policy.
• All premises should have both evacuation and dispersal policies in place.
•All licenced premises after 1am should have a staff member on the premises who is proficient in advanced first aid.
• All premises should have a glass collection policy. We do not agree with a blanket ban on glass after 1am per se – only where previous issues of disorder have made it a licence condition.
• BEDA believes that all premises should have a search policy in place (signed off by local licensing forum and police) which is appropriate to trading conditions. As a rule we believe that a random searching to act as a deterrent is often sufficient.
• BEDA believes that toilet supervision should be provided. It is our belief that most responsible operators will already have toilet checks as part of their general security patrols. Some larger club venues in addition employ permanent supervisors who are often trained to check the toilets.

Encouragingly, it is mentioned in the draft guidance to the Act that the Scottish Executive is currently looking for a “direct causal link between binge drinking and excessive drinking and promotions in off-sales”. We are pleased that the Executive is undertaking this research, as for too long an inequitable system has existed where the on-trade has borne the brunt of the pressure relating to price promotions when the off-trade has, for the most part, escaped scrutiny.

It is clear though that all BEDA members in Scotland need to stand together this year more than any year. In addition we need any operators in Scotland who are not currently members to join to add their voices to our valuable campaigning work. Over the coming months we are organising three BEDA seminars in Scotland. Venues are still to be confirmed – keep an eye on the BEDA website: www.beda.org.uk for details.

Words: Paul Smith

From: March 2007 Issue

Subscribe to NIGHT magazine

comments

	No comments yet

Add Comment