Alcohol Strategy
Following a protracted period of consultation and negotiation the Scottish Government announced, in November 2009 that the following measures would be contained within a new Bill – the Alcohol Etc (Scotland) Bill:
• Minimum pricing
• Bans on ‘irresponsible’ promotions
• Mandatory local consideration on raising the minimum age for purchase from shops to 21
• A social responsibility fee
• Restrictions on marketing materials

Links: Alcohol (Scotland) Bill
 
The Bill was allocated to the Scottish Parliament’s Health & Sport Committee who collected written evidence, and then held oral evidence sessions with a wide range of interested stakeholders between February and March 2010. Political difficulties have arisen over the publication of the Stage 1 Report – the Committee has requested more information - but this is expected to be published sometime in May followed by a parliamentary debate.

Links: Health & Sport Committee – Alcohol Bill
 

Licensing
On 1 September 2009, the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 - the first major overhaul of Scotland’s licensing laws in 30 years – came into force. The 2005 Act is, in many respects, similar to the English Licensing Act 2003: it features the four English licensing objectives: Preventing crime and disorder; Securing public safety; Preventing public nuisance; Protecting and improving public health; Protecting children from harm; but adds another - "Protecting and improving public health".   

The Act creates one class of licence - the premises licence - and also introduces personal licences for those working in the trade. The Act has created new "Licensing Forums" in order to increase community involvement, and "Licensing Standards Officers" who have an information, mediation and compliance role. 
 
The revised Licensing Regulations require all alcohol retailers to re-apply for, and receive, a new license by September 2009 in order to continue to trade. In addition, off-sales premises must now site all alcohol in one single display area; all premises managers must hold a valid personal licence and be on the premises when alcohol is sold; alcohol cannot be sold before 10am or after 10pm; and all staff, involved in the sale of alcohol, must complete specific training.
 
The regulations are implemented under schedule 3 of the 2005 Act, therefore failure to comply with the requirement will be dealt with by licensing boards as a breach of a licence condition. A range of sanctions will be available for this including written warnings, suspension or revocation of the licence. This is consistent with all other breaches of licensing conditions under the Act, in relation to any licensed premises. The monitoring of compliance will be a task for the new Licensing Standards Officers.  

Links: Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005