Item 3 Appendix 10 - EIA 786 West Dunbartonshire's Statement of Licensing Policy
West Dunbartonshire Council · 11 October 2023
Back to Licensing Board — 11 October 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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AssessmentNo 786 Owner michael.mcdougall Resource Transformation Service/Establishment Regulatory First Name Surname Job title Head Officer Michael McDougall Section Head (Licensing) (include job titles/organisation) Members Peter Clyde, Licensing Standards Officer Lawrence Knighton, Licensing Standards Officer (Please note: the word 'policy' is used as shorthand for stategy policy function or financial decision) Policy Title West Dunbartonshire's Statement of Licensing Policy The aim, objective,purpose and intended out come of policy This policy sets out how the Licensing Board will exercise its functions in regards to the sale and supply of alcohol. This includes the Licensing Board's expectations around licensed hours, children and young persons' access, and administration of occasional (i.e. temporary) licences. Please note that the Assessment of Overprovision has been of a separate EIA. Service/Partners/Stakeholders/service users involved in the development and/or implementation of policy. In developing this Statement of Licensing Policy, the Licensing Board has carried out a pre-consultation exercise . This exercise saw engagement with: Police Scotland, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership and the Licensing Forum. Other stakeholders were engaged with on a targeted basis. The information in-gathered allowed the Licensing Board to identify areas of the Policy that required to be revised. Having identified areas to be looked at and agreed on revisals, the new Statement of Licensing Policy was consulted on. A public consultation was carried out and key and statutory stakeholders consulted. A meeting was held with representatives from the licensed trade. Does the proposals involve the procurement of any goods or services? Yes If yes please confirm that you have contacted our procurement services to discuss your requirements. No SCREENING You must indicate if there is any relevance to the four areas Duty to eliminate discrimination (E), advance equal opportunities (A) or foster good relations (F) Yes Relevance to Human Rights (HR) Yes Relevance to Health Impacts (H) Yes Relevance to Social Economic Impacts (SE) Yes Who will be affected by this policy? This Policy will have an impact upon: (1) premises licence holders and applicants for premises licences and occasional (i.e. temporary) licences; (2) the residents of West Dunbartonshire; (3) persons who work in licensed premises; (4) persons who work in industries abutting the licensed trade, for example, taxi drivers, takeaway type premises; and (5) Police, NHS and other agencies. Who will be/has been involved in the consultation process?
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In order to identify issues to be looked at in detail there was an extensive pre-consultation exercise. This exercise saw engagement with: Police Scotland, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership and the Licensing Forum. Other stakeholders were engaged with on a targeted basis. There has been a public consultation as required by the licensing legislation as well as targeted engagement with key stakeholders, for example, the licensed trade, health board, and community groups. Views were sought by way of an online survey. Please outline any particular need/barriers which equality groups may have in relation to this policy list evidence you are using to support this and whether there is any negative impact on particular groups. Needs Evidence Impact Age The Licensing Board must promote the licensing objective of protecting children and young persons from harm. Children and young persons are at risk through being able to buy alcohol under age or being at risk of harm in premises that are unsuitable for their access. Submission from health bodies posits that children and young persons who are exposed to visible alcohol consumption may experience a degree of harm. The submission further narrates that visibility of alcohol consumption normalises drinking culture to young people as potential future drinkers with younger children being more affected. The NHS Greater Glasgow &Clyde paper highlights the impact on children of non-dependent parental drinking and advise that this is identified at a number of case conferences for children on the child protection register. A Planet Young survey suggests that 61% of S3 pupils had drank alcohol and that 3% had bought alcohol in a shop. Further information suggests that 10% of 15 year olds have managed to purchase alcohol. Positive The Policy will set out how Children and Young Persons will be protected from harm. In particular the access terms for Children and Young Persons is clearly narrated in the Policy. The Policy has been amended so that children and young persons are only permitted access to private pre-booked functions. Detailed conditions have been introduced around home deliveries and a requirement for a refusal register.
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The Licensing Forum expressed concerns around home deliveries of alcohol and the potenial for alcohol to be taken by under 18s. Cross Cutting Disability Persons with disabilities should be able to access licensed premises. Applicants for new premises licences must submit a disabled access and facilities statement. Positive The Licensing Board will note the terms of this statement and it is available on request. Social & Economic Impact The Policy relation with social and economic factors is complex and multifaceted. On one hand licences authorising the sale and supply of alcohol are essential to businesses however, there are significant alcohol related health harms within West Dunbartonshire and alcohol costs the local economy. Health partners submit that off sale type premises were almost five times more likely to expose children in the most deprived communities than in the least deprived ones. Also, Compared to children in the least deprived areas. those in the most deprived communities were almost three times more likely to be exposed to alcohol sales outlets. The NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde paper highlights that West Dunbartonshire has the fourth highest local share of the most deprived SIMD. Consultation responses from licensed businesses highlighted the import of shops to the local area and the benefits of access to facilities that these premises provide such as Paypoint, and fresh The Policy on licensed hours makes sure that there is a staggered dispersal between public house type premises and entertainment premises. This helps police resources and also the local transport infrastructure. The Policy recognises the importance of tourism to the local area as well as the health benefits through the creation of employment opportunities. The Policy gives potenial entrants to the market certainty as to what permissions the Licensing Board are likely to grant. This allows entrants to plan and avoid abortive costs.
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fruit and veg. A meeting was held with trade representatives to discuss the impact of the proposed changes on their businesses. These comments were fed into the consultation process. Members of the public responding to the consultation broadly supported the proposals. Sex The Licensing Board's Policy sets out:- (1) how it promotes the licensing objective of promoting and improving health including measures that it expects licence holders to consider as well as this objective being a consideration when determining appropriate licensing hours; and (2) how it promotes the licensing objective of preventing crime and disorder including measures that it expects licence holders to consider as well as this objective being a consideration when determining appropriate licensing hours and has had regard to issues around the Night Time Economy in terms of the transport intrastructure. From the NHS Greater Glasgow &Clyde paper: The mean number of units per week among drinkers in West Dunbartonshire is 11.2 with male drinker's consumption considerably higher at 14.1 units compared to 8.6 units for females. Alcohol consumption can be trigger rather than a cause of domestic abuse Women will benefit from a safe Night Time Economy environment where there are control measures in place to reduce the risk of alcohol related violence. Gender Reassign
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Health The Licensing Board must promote the licensing objective of protecting and improving public health. When considering applications it can refuse those applications were there is an inconsistency with the foregoing licensing objective. The Policy sets out how the Board will promote this objective. As part of the Licensing Board's pre-consultation exercise the views of the various health bodies weresought. They provided the following evidence in relation to overprovision and health harms: "Current health data shows that alcoho related harm and a coho specitic deaths continue to be above the national average for West Dunbartonshire as a local authority. West Dunbartonshire has the 3rd highest alcohol specific deaths across Scotland's council area. Furthermore, when alcohol specific deaths were analvsed for the vear (2016-2020) against the baseline vear (2002-2006) for each area. West Dunbartonshire has the second greatest increase in Alcool Specific Deaths in Scotland Additionally, all intermediate zones within West Dunbartonshire have at least 1 alcool related health harm indicators (Alcohol Related Hospital Admissions; Alcool Specific Deaths; Alcool Related Mental Health Admissions) above the national average with 16 of the 18 Health stakeholders have been engaged with from an early stage in the preparation of the Policy. Information has been gathered from the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership. This information has informed the preparation and drafting of the new Policy to make sure that it is evidence based. Doctor Daniel Carter, Consultant in Public Health, presented health related information to the Board on 9 May 2023. The Licensing Board also developed its Assessment of Overprovision. The Policy contains a number of requirements designed to protect and improve public health. For example, pool conditions have been introduced for occasional licences to make sure that this type of temporary permission is regulated to a high standard. Amends were made to address Health's concerns were appropriate, for example, a condition around home deliveries was made more robust owing
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intermediate zones having 2 or more" There is evidence that has been considered by the Licensing Board that employment brings about health benefits (see Roeflfs, Shor, Davidson &Schwartz, Losing life and livelihood... and Waddell and Burton, Is work good for your health and well-being?) Pre- consultation responses from businesses highlighted the import of access to affordable fruit and veg as well as employment opportunities. Health bodies were consulted with again as part of the Policy consultation. This response was considered by officers and amends suggested. to comments made by Health. Human Rights The Board needs to consider the Human Rights of people and businesses where relevant Article 8 (Private life, family etc.) is likely to be particularly relevant to people and families e.g. preventing ASB Article 1 of Protocol I to the ECHR as the "right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions" including economic interests of businesses Police have presented material around the number of alcohol related crimes and incidents. Health partners submit that there is evidence to suggest that laws limiting when people can buy and sell alcohol help lower harm associated with alcohol. Some concerns were expressed in relation to noise nusiance from licensed premises. Where The final policy has been consulted on with the trade. An engagement session was held with the trade with discussions around the practical impact of the conditions. Comments from the Council's Enviromental Health service led to minor amends around the Policy's provisions re public nusiance.
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appropraite and individual premises identified this was passed to Licensing Standards. Consultation was had with the Council's Environmental Health service. Marriage & Civil Partnership Pregnancy & Maternity Race Religion and Belief Sexual Orientation Actions Policy has a negative impact on an equality group,but is still to be implemented, please provide justification for this. Will the impact of the policy be monitored and reported on an ongoing bases? The Licensing Forum has a statutory role in monitoring the operation of the Licensing Board and reporting back to it on an ongoing basis. This will include the implementation of this Policy. The Policy itself requests that the Forum keep the Licensing Board updated with any matters it should be aware of, including but not limited to developments in local strategies or national policy changes. Q7 What is you recommendation for this policy? Intoduce Please provide a meaningful summary of how you have reached the recommendation EIA 786: Positive impacts for disabled people, young people and women. The Policy promotes the licensing objectives and is underpinned by probative evidence. The development of the Policy has been informed by an extensive pre-consultation exercise and then a public consultation exercise. All material ingathered has been carefully considered by the Licensing Board in formulation of the new Policy.