THOUSANDS of pubs, clubs, off sales and even supermarkets will be operating illegally from tomorrow amid turmoil over a licensing overhaul.

By Gerry Braiden

THOUSANDS of pubs, clubs, off sales and even supermarkets will be operating illegally from tomorrow amid turmoil over a licensing overhaul.

New figures on the eve of Scotland's first major change to licensing in 30 years show many establishments are caught in the administrative meltdown over the required consents.

The chairman of Glasgow's licensing board says the trade could be "on the brink of closing down".

Eight years since the idea to tackle Scotland's drinking culture with legislation got off the ground, and 18 months since the transition into the new Act began, local authorities are struggling to process the paperwork required for tomorrow to sell liquor legally.

There have also been claims that the new Licensing (Scotland) Act is forcing the closure of four pubs a week and that one fifth of venues, mainly in rural Scotland, have already shut.

Confusion over what is expected when the legislation comes into force, and how it will be policed, have led to appeals to the Scottish Government and the licensing authorities to announce a clear enforcement moratorium for any retailers affected by delays plaguing the system.

It is understood that licensing boards and police forces have entered into an understanding that they will adopt a "softly, softly" and "commonsense" approach to enforcement in the first few months of the new rules.

Chief inspector Stuart Neill, the new head of licensing at Strathclyde Police, said the laws give scope for tackling drunkenness in premises and town centres, as new sanctions lower the thresholds and increase the grounds of complaints by police to licensing boards on. He also welcomed the new powers to shut problem premises with immediate effect.

Leading health professionals also believe that the Act has potential to reduce overall consumption across the population.

Happy hour promotions, which encourage alcohol consumption, will be outlawed in pubs and clubs while supermarket and shop displays of drink must be contained to one stand-alone area.

Customers will also be entitled to free tap water in bars and clubs, and soft drinks must be "responsibly priced".

People can, for the first time, object to or support an application to a licensing board anywhere in the country.

More contentious rulings on bans on supermarket "promos" and a minimum pricing system have been moved into different legislation, despite Edinburgh and Dundee announcing that they will explore if there is room within the new laws to ban promotions in off-sales.

The new laws are also designed to tighten up the trade and modernise the licensing system by requiring venues to have three separate consents before they can sell alcohol: premises and personal licences and nominated managers. However, our survey found that several areas have not even begun issuing licences, while thousands of venues have not even named a manager.

Stephen Dornan, chairman of the Glasgow Licensing Board, said: "This Act is a total shambles and is putting us in the position where we will have to allow licensed premises to trade unlawfully." He also expressed fears for the trade, saying that two thirds of the city's pubs would have to shut if the laws were fuly enforced immediately.

Patrick Browne, of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association, described it as a "mess". He said: "The industry has been warning the Scottish Government about problems in the process of transition for months, but most of the time those concerns have been ignored."

Small retailers in call for changes to regulations

It is feared the rules will disadvantage small shops SMALL business chiefs today called for the licensing shake-up to be referred to a body that advises ministers on improving business regulation. Leaders of the Federation of Small Businesses are demanding the move amid fears the Licensing (Scotland) Act could hit small shops harder than larger stores. Under the legislation, supermarkets and shops will only be allowed to display alcohol in a specific area that has been set aside for drink. The Act also requires places selling alcohol to have a licence for the premises and a designated manager, who must have a personal licence to sell drink. However, the FSB fears small, independent retailers could be disproportionately affected by the changes and wants the legislation to be referred to the Scottish Government's Regulatory Review Group. It aims to resolve specific problems and regulations that have been causing Scottish businesses concern, advise the government and be an independent monitor to co-ordinate, review and judge the Scottish Government and its regulatory agencies. It is chaired by Professor Russell Griggs from the Confederation of British Industry and has members from a broad spectrum of business including the Scottish Council for Development and Industry. FSB policy convener Andy Willox said supermarkets will pay only four times the fees of corner shops. He said: "I don't know what a massive out-of-town outlet makes in profit every week, but I imagine it's slightly more than four times what your local corner-shop ever takes in."

Board admits it has still to start issuing licences

ONE of the biggest licensing board areas in Scotland, North Lanarkshire, admitted that it had not even begun to start issuing licences.

It said its staff had written to all premises telling them to continue as normal while it finalises the paperwork.

East Dunbartonshire said that it had to recall almost 200 licences, while in Glasgow 1200 premises had yet to nominate a manager.

The figure is around two-thirds of the city's total premises that are applying for licences.

Just 70 premises' licences have been issued in Fife from the 1050 applications currently in its system, while in East Ayrshire, 15% of the expected 403 applications for premises' licences have decided to throw in the towel before the paperwork has been processed.

Most tellingly, South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and Argyll and Bute could not provide any information as to how many licences had been issued to date.