Agenda and minutes

George Wyatt, Chairman, welcomed everyone to the Joint Meeting of the Licensing Board and Licensing Forum.  Board members and Forum members also introduced themselves.

The Chairman explained that the meeting would be on an informal basis and hoped that the Forum and the Board could work together effectively to achieve their common goals.

Eric Anderson, Depute Clerk to Aberdeen City Licensing Board addressed the meeting with an update of information since the last joint meeting.

Eric advised that the Scottish Government had passed legislation to create a Minimum Price of 50p per unit of alcohol and the Board’s review of its Statement of Licensing Policy, which must be carried out every three years, had to be completed by November 2013.  Eric also highlighted that the Board’s Overprovision policy required to be updated as part of that review.

He also advised that the Doors Supervisors’ Working Group was established last year with four members each from the Board and the Forum.  However when the new Board was re-established following the Local Government elections, they resolved to have five members.  Eric therefore enquired whether the Forum wishes an extra member.

Lastly he explained that the Board had duties under the Equality Act 2010, including a requirement to publish; (a) a report on the progress of mainstreaming the equality duty; and (b) equality outcomes by April 2013.  Certain of these processes are linked to the Board’s Statement of Licensing Policy.

Eric confirmed that the Forum would be informed and consulted as appropriate in relation to the above mentioned items.

The meeting had before them, a report by Alcohol Focus Scotland & Scottish Health Action, which highlighted various alcohol problems.

Sandy Kelman spoke in furtherance of the paper, and explained that the document encapsulated a lot of issues surrounding alcohol.  Sandy noted that alcohol impacted on every area of individuals lives and alcohol sales through off-trade such as supermarkets, amounted to 68% of the overall sales.

The paper highlighted various issues, such as trends in alcohol licensing in Scotland since 1962 as well as the availability of alcohol.

Sandy described how educating individuals was one of the keys to improving alcohol consumption and its affects.

The members then discussed the document, whereupon Councillor Boutlon, Convener of the Licensing Board explained that she felt that it was very important that the Board and Forum work together.  Members also spoke about the various places that alcohol could be purchased at, and suggested that if it wasn’t so readily available then people would think twice about buying it.  In British Columbia, Canada, off licences sell alcohol but not in places such as supermarkets.

Questions then focused on the health aspect of alcohol consumption, whereby Councillor Boulton asked if health services had any evidence about alcohol misuse etc.  Linda Smith, NHS Grampian advised that the evidence they do have is with individuals’ deaths, and that the age range they have most problems with is the 45-64 range.  Linda further explained that it would be beneficial if health services were to see any applications for a licence within petrol station premises, for example.

The Board and Forum members watched the training resource DVD for Local Licensing Forum members.  Following this, the meeting heard from Sandy Kelman, who outlined the need for the Board and the Forum to work together on their joint aims and objectives.  Sandy also explained that he felt that the Forum needed to identity key partners to work alongside the Board, and hold monthly meetings to discuss the various issues.

In relation to this, Councillor Boulton suggested that four to five members of the Forum form a small working group which could then meet with the Board to discuss the Forum’s objectives.  George Wyatt suggested that at the next meeting, the Forum would agree on the membership of the small working group as well as the joint objectives, which could then be brought to the Board members.

It was also highlighted that the Forum had invited Board members along to the meetings of the Forum in the past.  As a way forward it was suggested that an electronic agenda be sent to the Board members from the Forum, and should they wish, they could attend the Forum meetings as an observer.

The meeting heard from Sandy Kelman who advised that the City Voice had recently undertaken a questionnaire study in relation to alcohol and was awaiting the results, which were due to be published on Thursday 6 September. 

The questionnaire asked people about their experience of free home fire safety visits from Grampian Fire and Rescue, as well as individuals Alcohol Purchase and Promotion.

Sandy further explained that the data would be brought to the next meeting of the Forum and discussed, and noted that the Board could use the local data gathered to help with their work.

Sandy highlighted that 1000 people from a wide section of the city had received the questionnaire as they aimed to get responses from a cross section of society.

The meeting discussed various health issues associated with alcohol misuse, whereby Sandy Kelman highlighted that it was everyone’s responsibility to look more broadly at the provision of alcohol and not just at the pubs and clubs.

The members discussed how the stereotype of someone with alcohol problems was not always the person who had underlying health issues, but individuals who consume alcohol in their own homes on a nightly basis, and Linda Smith, NHS Grampian reiterated that the NHS was expecting to see the impact over the next decade as a result of alcohol misuse.

4.4.1 National

4.4.2 Local

The meeting heard from Sandy Kelman who highlighted that when the new draft policy was finalised, it was vital that it was measurable in order to see how successful they had been in achieving their goals.

The meeting had before them a document from West Dunbartonshire Council, which highlighted their overprovision policy.

Members had this document for information and as a basis for assisting contributing to the statement of Licensing Policy.

4.8.1 West Dunbartonshire

4.8.2 Extracts from AFS newsletters June/July

The meeting heard from the chairman, who declared the meeting open for any other competent business, whereby Garry Burnett, Grampian Fire and Rescue circulated the Aberdeen City Alcohol & Drugs Partnership ADP Strategy for 2009-2019.

Garry explained that (1) he was the chair at the Alcohol Task Group and noted that the Task Group would performance measure the strategy and (2) the legislation and licensing section was very important and was a key area with the successful implementation and monitoring of legislation relating to alcohol marketing, sales and consumption.

The Forum agreed to discuss the document at the next meeting of the Forum in greater depth.

The chairman also added that in relation to the refresher training courses for personal licence holders, the Scottish Government were currently introducing changes which might result in problems for those who need to do the refresher training at a certain time. 

The Chairman thanked everyone for their positive inputs and stated that he looked forward to working with the Board members in the future.

 - George Wyatt, Chairman