Issue - meetings

Niamh Fitzgerald, lead of the Evaluating Later or Expanded Premises Hours for Alcohol in the Night-time Economy(ELEPHANT) Study, Stirling University was introduced to the meeting via Microsoft Teams, who had been invited by the Convener to give an update.

Niamh provided a summary on the ELEPHANT Study, particularly for the new members of the Forum. During the update, the following was noted:-

·            the ELEPHANT Study looked at changes in closing times in both Aberdeen City and Glasgow City Licensed Premises;

·            Glasgow City were part of a pilot that took place to allow nightclub premises to apply to open until 4am rather than 3am;

·            this change resulted in multiple premises in Aberdeen City, which were not previously eligible to apply for a later licence. Originally, this was restricted to Nightclubs only however, it then changed to allow bars to apply for late night hours;

·            Records showed that around 40-80 premises in Aberdeen City and only 10 premises in Glasgow City had applied for the later licence; and

·            there was a lot of evidence internationally around public health harms from late night opening of premises. (Assaults and alcohol related ambulance call outs). They continued to look at the outcomes in this regard.

There were currently five work packages taking place, which were:-

·            Stakeholder Interviews (recruitment taking place in both Cities)

·            Public Focus Group (including late night venues visits);

·            Statistics on Ambulance call-outs;

·            Economic changes; and

·            What implications would there be for other Cities looking into this? Gathering information around the benefits and risks.

It was noted an event took place in London at the end of 2022, where findings on the previous study were shared regarding public health and licensing. The next event is scheduled for April or May 2023, with the venue to be in Scotland.

Niamh advised the Forum that the Scottish Government recently updated their guidance, section 1.4 sat beside the Licensing Legislation. Alcohol Focus Scotland were currently reviewing the guidance and may offer briefings in due course. The reviews showed that important developments were included in the guidance, for example in allowing more discretion for Boards and weakening the need for a causal link between a particular premises and alcohol harm.

The Forum resolved:-

(i)             to note that the Scottish Government did not issue notifications regarding their Consultations, they were published on their website The Scottish Government - gov.scot (www.gov.scot);

(ii)            to note that the Scottish Government website was seeking contributions  in relation to the Restricting Alcohol Advertising and Promotion Consultation https://www.gov.scot/publications/consultation-restricting-alcohol-advertising-promotion/pages/2/#page-top; and

(iii)          to note that the event details and section 1.4 Guidance would be circulated to members of the Forum in due course.