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| Bill could give councils more power over pub and club licens http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=26753 |
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| Author: | captain cab [ Fri Apr 24, 2015 9:04 am ] |
| Post subject: | Bill could give councils more power over pub and club licens |
Bill could give councils more power over pub and club licenses Councils may soon be able to reject applications for new pubs, lap-dancing bars and hire cars on the grounds that there are too many in the area. Pub owners must also prove that they are fit to run a premises, including disclosing spent convictions, under the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Bill which was debated in Holyrood on Thursday. Councils must have the stated objective of reducing the consumption of alcohol when considering new licenses while those who give alcohol to children to drink in public will be criminalised. Communities will get a greater say over the opening of lap-dancing bars while councils will also be able to judge whether there is an over-provision of private hire cars in the area. The wide-ranging bill will impose new regulations on scrap-metal dealers to cut down on theft, including a requirement to get proper identification from those selling scrap and refuse payment in cash. The central clause in the bill is the licensing of air weapons, which justice secretary Michael Matheson said has been on the SNP's agenda "for quite some time". "Our 2007 manifesto set out plans to tackle this and we reiterated this as an aim in our 2011 manifesto," he said. He claimed the Bill will license the owner of a firearm and rejected suggestions that the air weapons themselves should be licensed with an identifier mark, insisting this would place "immense additional burdens on the police, the trade and the shooters" but do little to tackle air weapons. He added: "The Bill will create a new offence of giving or making available alcohol to a child or young person for consumption in a public place. "This will allow Police Scotland to address the problem of drinking dens where vulnerable young people can congregate to share alcohol. "The Bill introduces a fit-and-proper test for both premises and person licensing applications, and licensing boards will also be able to consider spent offences." Kevin Stewart, convener of the Local Government and Regeneration Committee, said: "Licensing policy statements must contain a statement as to whether there is over-provision of licensed premises in any locality within the licensing board area. "We also recommend an additional licensing objective be added to include the reduction of consumption of alcohol." Mr Matheson added: "The Bill will ensure the tidying-up of the licensing of metal dealers to ensure more effective regulation of the industry and to make it more difficult for metal that has been stolen to be disposed of. "It will deliver this by ensuring all dealers are licensed, banning the use of cash for payment for scrap, tightening record-keeping arrangements and requiring proper identification of customers. "The Bill will also allow communities greater say over whether lap-dancing takes place in their area by allowing local licensing authorities the power to control the number of licenses for sexual entertainment venues in particular localities." source: http://news.stv.tv/scotland/318259-bill ... -licenses/ |
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