A: Premises licences do not expire – although they “cease to have effect” in a variety of circumstances. Assuming that the licence for the restaurant has somehow been ‘lost’ you can be sure that selling alcohol to anyone will land you in trouble. A person who sells alcohol – or allows it to be sold – on unlicensed premises commits an offence punishable by a fine not exceeding £20,000, imprisonment for up to six months, or both.

A: Gin, rum, vodka and whisky can be sold in 25ml or 35ml measures or multiples thereof (with the same quantity offered through the premises). There’s nothing to prevent you serving 50ml quantities but it doesn’t sit well with the current drive to encourage the offer of small measures.

A: The single personal licence holder to whom you refer can only be the premises manager. While he or she need not be present on the premises at all times when alcohol is sold it’s plainly impossible for premises to be ‘managed’ by someone who never bothers to put in an appearance. What’s more, as a “mandatory condition” of all premises licences, “every sale of alcohol made on the premises must be authorised (generally or specifically) by (a) the premises manager; or (b) another person who holds a personal licence”. Opinions differ as to whether there should always be someone present on the premises who holds a personal licence. But in the case of your pub, the only person capable of giving an authorisation appears to have abandoned all responsibility for the conduct of the premises. That’s a recipe for disaster, not just for the business but also the premises manager because he or she will almost certainly be held to account for any offences committed. However, there’s no question of you being “fined” just because you’re working without the support of a personal licence holder. The business owner needs a really loud wake-up call.

A: I don’t think there’s a grey area, but the law did undergo a significant change when the 2005 Act came into force. Previously, it was not an offence for a licence holder to allow the consumption or removal of alcohol outwith permitted hours but an offence was committed by the person consuming or removing the alcohol. Now, a person commits an offence if he “allows alcohol to be consumed on licensed premises, or allows alcohol to be taken from licensed premises” outwith licensed hours (subject, of course, to drinking-up time and various other exceptions). So far as the customer is concerned, as you say, the offence of consuming alcohol on, or taking alcohol from, licensed premises outwith licensed hours is only committed if that person has been requested not to do so by a “responsible person”.

A: You’ll need to look at the operating plan contained in your licence and check the approved arrangements. Assuming young persons are permitted on the premises, the operating plan will specify the parts to which they have access and the terminal hour. Be careful, because I’m aware of a recent case in which a restaurant employed 17 year olds as waiting staff, permitted to serve alcohol under supervision, but unable to serve food. Why? The operating plan provided that young persons (and children) had access to “all public parts of the premises”. But that meant they had no access to the kitchen – not a “public part”.

A: An application for an occasional licence may be made by: the holder of a premises licence; the holder of a personal licence; or a representative of a “voluntary organisation”. Assuming that your applications are made by the trust as a “voluntary organisation”, the requirement to have alcohol sales authorised by the holder of a personal licence doesn’t apply – as it would if the licence was granted to a premises or personal licence holder.

A: I’m afraid the club is in the same position as the pub owner whose question I answered last month. Clubs meeting certain criteria are exempt from a number of provisions in the Licensing Act – but they’re still bound by the rules governing licensed hours, and the consumption of alcohol outwith those hours is (with a few exceptions, such as “drinking-up time”) an offence even if it’s not sold. What can you do? Check with the licensing board to find out whether you have “automatic” extra hours on December 31. If not, you’ll need to make an application to extend the licensed hours. Ask the board’s staff for a form and make sure you don’t miss the last submission date for Hogmanay events.

A: Under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976, the ‘permitted hours’ didn’t apply where the licence holder entertained private friends at his or her own expense. The 2005 Act changed the position. Allowing for ‘drinking-up time’, the consumption of alcohol after the end of licensed hours is an offence, even at a party where no drink is sold. So, you may need to apply to the licensing board for an extension of hours, unless there’s a local arrangement giving you automatic extra hours for Hogmanay. You’ll also need to make sure that your operating plan covers the presence of children and young persons on the premises for the duration of the party. There’s an argument – too complicated to explore in this space – that restrictions on the admission of under 18s only apply when alcohol is sold for on-consumption, but I wouldn’t bank on it.

A: A follow-up test purchase will take place. If the sale’s refused, I expect you’ll be in the clear. In a landmark appeal decision a few years ago, senior judges ruled that the suspension of a licence wasn’t an appropriate step for a single test-purchase failure where the retailer had taken diligent measures to prevent underage sales and a mistake was made by a properly-trained member of staff. In the light of that decision, if you pass the second test, it’s unlikely the police will apply for a review of your licence.

A: In a publicly accessible alcohol area, a product other than alcohol can only be displayed if it’s (a) a non-alcoholic drink; (b) packaged with alcohol (and only for sale with) the alcohol; (c) a “branded non-alcoholic product”; or (d) a newspaper, magazine or other publication. Wine carriers could fall into category (c), but only if they carried the name or image of an alcoholic product. If they didn’t conform to that requirement, you’d be exposed to prosecution and (in theory) liable to a fine of £20,000 and/or six months’ imprisonment. That would lead to a review of your premises licence with the possibility of a sanction being imposed by the licensing board. Just to complicate matters further, you could display alcohol-branded items in the body of the shop outwith the alcohol area, but only if they were priced. My understanding is that you’re not obliged to impose the minimum five pence charge under the carrier bag regulations.

A: Yes, because you have a right to refuse entry as you please, provided that you don’t do so on a ground prohibited under the Equality Act 2010: race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief, transexuality (‘gender reassignment’), pregnancy or maternity. The right to refuse entry or service – and the limitations imposed by that Act – were comprehensively covered in an SLTN article a while back.

A: At the moment, “drinking-up time” is available in your premises until 2.15am provided that the alcohol was purchased before 2am. From that point, even if you’re not selling alcohol, it’s an offence to allow it to be consumed. So, in order to implement your idea – which might well have some merit – you’d have to make an application to the licensing board for a “non-minor” variation of your premises licence to extend your licensed hours. If that course isn’t attractive and you were thinking of modifying your idea so that all bottles and glasses containing alcohol were cleared away by 2.15am – and getting that clearance totally complete might be tricky – be aware that the provision of soft drinks, food and entertainment could mean that you have to obtain a public entertainment licence from the local council. Just to complicate matters further still, if you were only offering food and non-alcoholic drinks a late-hours catering licence could well be required. You’ll have gathered that this is very tricky territory and it would be a good idea to consult your licensing lawyer, who might also suggest other steps you could take to deal with your current difficulties.

A: The operating plan contained with your licence sets out a list of permitted activities that might take place on your premises apart from the sale of alcohol. It also indicates whether an activity will only take place when alcohol sales are allowed or at other times. The supply of breakfasts before the start of licensed hours does in fact require specific authorisation from the licensing board, whether you operate a hotel, pub, restaurant or any other type of licensed premises. If it doesn’t form part of an operating plan, authorisation can only be added by means of a ‘non-minor’ variation application which requires to be advertised and considered by the board. In the case of a hotel, this produces an odd result. In terms of section 63(2) of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 persons residing on licensed premises may purchase and consume alcohol outwith licensed hours. In fact, the consumption (but not the purchase) of alcohol by the guest of a resident is permitted. These dispensations operate automatically and do not need authorisation in the licence. So, as matters stand, you could supply a resident with a pint of beer at 7am, but not a plate of bacon and eggs. My advice is to frame the proposed variation as widely as possible, by indicating that food (including breakfasts) and refreshments may be served to residents and non-residents prior to the commencement of licensed hours. Be aware, however, that the degree of detail expected varies from area to area so you might need to specify the time at which service begins.

A: Under the Identity Documents Act 2010 it’s an offence to possess a false ‘identity document’ – or a document that relates to another person – with an ‘improper intention’, as would plainly be the case where it was used in an attempt by an underage person to obtain alcohol (or any other age-restricted product). Plainly, there’s a challenge in getting the police on the spot while the would-be purchaser is still on the premises, although an Inverness initiative seems to be meeting with some success. However, a number of experienced operators I’ve spoken to point to a potential pitfall. In one case, a shop assistant confiscated a passport suspecting the photograph had been switched and handed it in to police. It turned out to be genuine and had been taken without consent from an older sibling.

A: Gin (together with rum, vodka and whisky) can only be sold in 25ml or 35ml measures (or multiples thereof). Of course, provided you comply with this requirement you can offer as many types of gin for sale as you wish. So far as still wine is concerned, when sold by the glass it may only be offered in 125ml or 175 ml measures (or multiples thereof) but wine sold in a quantity below 75ml is exempt. The law in relation to wine was changed around four years ago following a campaign to allow the sale of affordable sample tastings of vintages that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive if sold as 125ml measures.

A: For the purposes of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, the expression “alcohol” means “spirits, wine, beer, cider or any other fermented, distilled or spirituous liquor” but doesn’t include “alcohol which is of a strength of 0.5% or less at the time of sale”. Beck’s Blue contains “not more than 0.05% alcohol” (thus qualifying for the “alcohol-free” description), so it can be sold to persons under 18. However, in practice, for their own reasons, retailers are apt to treat this and similar products as “age restricted”; but, confusingly, you might see cans of shandy (with an ABV not exceeding 0.5% v) in soft drink aisles.

A: In essence, for licensing purposes there are two types of members’ clubs. Firstly, there are “qualifying clubs” which operate under a written constitution and rules with a content prescribed by regulations made under the 2005 Licensing Act. These clubs enjoy a number of dispensations; for example, there is no requirement to nominate a premises manager and alcohol sales needn’t be authorised by a personal licence holder. Other clubs may choose to operate in the normal fashion without the restrictions imposed by the regulations, but without the advantages that would otherwise be available. Assuming that your club is a “qualifying club”, the normal signing-in rules apply to non-members except where the person seeking to buy alcohol is a member of another “qualifying club”. So, while ‘affiliation’ isn’t an issue as such, the other golf club would have to be a “qualifying club”.

A: The answer rests on the outcome of a pending legal challenge. Owners of a hotel in the Highlands were incensed by malicious reviews on Trip Advisor and called on the company to reveal the authors’ identities so that defamation proceedings could be taken. Trip Advisor refused to do so and claimed to be outwith the jurisdiction of the Scottish courts. The owners took the case to the Court of Session when a judge accepted the review site’s argument that any legal proceedings required to be brought in Massachusetts, where its headquarters are situated. An appeal against that decision to three senior judges was rejected. I reckon that, by this stage, the hoteliers must have run up a massive legal bill and reached the end of the road. However, it seems that an anonymous donor has stepped in to fund their battle and the case will be heard in due course by the Supreme Court in London. I reckon that a fair number of hospitality industry operators will be very interested in the outcome.

A: The drinking-up time dispensation only applies to the consumption of alcohol “at a meal” and provided that the alcohol was sold during licensed hours, at the same time as the meal and for consumption “at the meal”. As you’ll gather, the key expression here is “at a meal” so the extra time isn’t available where the meal was supplied earlier.

A: Under the scheme of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 it wasn’t possible for a landlord to hold a licence and there was nothing to prevent a malicious tenant surrendering the licence back to the board. However, that difficulty has been overcome by the present legislation. You can – and should – hold the licence with the tenant acting as the premises manager. Since the licence is presently held by a tenant there’s scope for complications and it would be wise to put the transfer in the hands of a lawyer. That is not where your responsibilities end. Should there be any problems with the conduct of the premises, the board will not be impressed to discover that you simply collected the rent. So, as I’ve said before on this page, a wise landlord will carry out regular compliance visits. You might find this basic checklist useful: (1) a certified copy of the premises licence must be available for inspection, together with staff training records (you should keep hold of the original licence); (2) the licence summary should be “prominently displayed” and capable of being read by anyone frequenting the premises; (3) if alcohol is consumed on the premises, there must be a notice at the entrance stating either that persons under 18 are not permitted on the premises, or are permitted either to the whole premises or specified parts (in terms of the operating plan); (4) ‘section 110’ notices relating to underage sales must be in position with the proper wording; (5) an ‘age verification policy’ ought to be in place and adequate Challenge 25 signage on display.

A: That question shakes the dust from distant memories of a byelaw operated many years ago by the licensing court in Glasgow that prevented pubs from levying an admission charge. The magistrates took the view that a ‘public house’ was exactly that: premises to which members of the public ought to have unrestricted access. The current licensing regime makes no provision for byelaws and there’s nothing to prevent licensed premises of any description charging for entry. I suppose it’s just possible that there could be a premises licence condition stipulating that entrance should be free of charge, although it’s very difficult to imagine when that would be appropriate.

A: There’s a campaign driven by the Scottish Government Alcohol Industry Partnership encouraging the trade to offer these measures as a means of promoting public health and giving customers better choice – but it’s not compulsory. The position is different in England and Wales. Specified drinks which are not pre-packed must be available to customers in prescribed measures: (1) beer or cider, half pint; (2) gin, rum, vodka or whisky, 25ml or 35ml; and (3) still wine in a glass, 125ml. Importantly, where a customer does not ask for a specific quantity, he or she is to be made aware that the different measures can be purchased. Perhaps the Scottish Government should give some thought to following this lead.