Agenda and minutes

The Convener welcomed everyone to the meeting of the Local Licensing Forum.  She advised that Mrs Masson, the clerk to the Forum was currently off work and wished her well in her recovery.

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Neil Grant, Police Scotland.

The Forum resolved:-

to note the apologies.

The Forum had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 13 June 2023.

In relation to article 4 of the minute, the Convener advised that the Forum required to seek representatives from off sales, the Trade and a Youth Member due to current members stepping down from their roles.

The Forum resolved:-

(i)       to note the information provided; and

(ii)      to otherwise approve the minute as a correct record.

The Forum had circulated by email a draft statement of aims prepared by the Convener, based on discussion and ideas at the June meeting.  The Convener sought views from Members on the content of the document wherein the following observations were made:

·       in the second paragraph, last line, change children’s services to social work services;

·       it would be useful to make reference to the legislation at the start of the document including the list the Licensing Objectives;

·       the document should be clear on the difference between the Licensing Board and the Forum.

Members agreed that having a document that sets out the aims of the Local Licensing Forum may help to encourage new membership.

The Forum resolved:-

(i)       to note that the Convener would make the amendments and re-issue for final comments; and

(ii)      to note that Steve McConnachie had been discussing membership of the Forum with a colleague in Adult Social Work and would liaise with the Convener.

The Forum received a presentation from John Mooney, NHS Grampian on Alcohol related admissions to A&E.

The presentation provided statistical information relating to A&E admissions associated with alcohol consumption.  The trend showed that the admissions were reducing over time however the figures were skewed somewhat due to night time economy being closed down during the early stages of the pandemic.  The figures showed that when premises re-opened the number of hospital admissions started to rise.

In relation to alcohol specific death rates, it was noted that these were higher in the most deprived areas of the city due to an increase in consumption of alcohol. 

When asked if the data could be broken down further to show secondary issues, John advised that this was difficult to record as long term drinking can cause vulnerability to immune systems with higher possibilities of other health conditions being presented.

Members discussed various elements of the statistics presented which John provided detailed responses to the questions raised.

The Forum resolved:-

(i)       to note that John would circulate the presentation to members;

(ii)      to note that John would prepare a more concise statement and circulate ahead of the Joint meeting with the Board; and

(iii)      to note the content of the presentation.

With reference to article 5, bullet point two of the previous minute, the Convener invited members to discuss and agree a programme of reporting to enhance the Forum’s awareness of the impact of alcohol use in the city.  She advised that the reports should include an overview of the current situation and any relevant statistics to help members understand the wider picture.

The timetable for reporting would be as follows:

·       November – Police Scotland

·       January – Social Work – provisional

The Forum resolved:-

to agree the proposed timetable and request members to identify dates when they would provide a report for the next meeting.

The Forum had circulated by email, a draft version of the Forum’s review and recommendations on the Annual Functions Report which was prepared by the Convener and Vice Convener.  The document outlined the purpose of the Annual Functions Report as stated in legislation and explained that the Forum had used various sources whilst undertaking the review including:

·       Annual Function Reports published by other Licensing Boards

·       Information from the review by Alcohol Focus Scotland in 2019 of published Annual Functions Reports around Scotland

·       the recent Scottish Government Guidance for Licensing Boards.

The document contained information under the following headings:-

1.       Meeting statutory requirements

2.       Supporting local communities to understand how the Licensing Board operates and promotes the licensing objectives

3.       How the Board reflects on its effectiveness and what data (police, health etc) it uses to inform their reflection

4.       Board Forum interface

The document listed the recommendations to be presented to the Board.

During the discussion, Sandy Munro advised that the Annual Functions report for the previous year had been completed therefore any recommendation made by the Forum would be considered for next year’s report.

Members suggested some amendments to the report that would be included before being sent to Licensing.  Members discussed whether the Forum should have it’s own annual report which could highlight work undertaken to date in relation to the aim of the Forum.

The Forum resolved:-

(i)       to note that the Convener would make amendments to the report and re-issue to members for final approval;

(ii)      to note that the report would be discussed at the joint meeting of the Licensing Board and the Forum; and

(ii)      to agree that the Forum prepare an annual report to link into the aim of the Forum and to show achievements across the year.

The Convener advised that she would contact Niamh Fitzgerald from the Stirling University to get an update on the ELEPHANT Study for the meeting in November.

The Forum resolved:-

to note the information.

The Convener requested that for the joint meeting with the Board, members should prepare a five minute talk to explain what they bring to the Forum and what their service does.  She explained that she would prepare a short brief and circulate to members.

Members discussed topics that could be requested to include on the joint meeting agenda, those being:

·       A&E statistics

·       Annual Functions Report feedback

·       Aim of the Forum

The Forum resolved:-

(i)       to note that the Convener would issue a brief to assist members with a short presentation for the joint meeting;

(ii)      to send a list of proposed items to the Clerk for the Licensing Board for inclusion on the agenda;

(iii)      to note that William, Vice Convener would lead on behalf of the Forum as the Convener would be on holiday.

At this point in the proceedings, the following items were raised as any other competent business:-

Overprovision Consultation

The consultation had commenced and would close on 15 September 2023.  Members were encouraged to feed into the consultation and could use the online links or use the licensing email address. 

The Forum resolved:-

to note that the Convener would circulate the link to members.

Scottish Government Meeting for Licensing Forum Conveners

Elaine and John attended the meeting which was set up to see how the Forums were getting on across Scotland and to look at a Forum network to provide support and guidance.  Further information would be provided at the next meeting.

The Forum resolved:-

to note that an update would be provided at the next meeting.

The Forum noted that their next meetings were scheduled for 26September which was the Joint Meeting with the Licensing Board and 28 November for the Forum.

The Convener announced that it was David Laing’s last meeting of the Forum as he was soon to be moving to Manchester to undertake his studies at Manchester University.  She thanked him for his valuable contributions to the Forum during his time as a member and wished him well with his studies.

-        ELAINE MOTTRAM, Convener