West Dunbartonshire has become the first licensing board in Scotland to take the radical step of banning additional pubs, clubs, and off-licenses from almost every street in the area.
The ground-breaking decision has been taken in order to tackle West Dunbartonshire’s chronic record for alcohol related problems, which along with Glasgow, Inverclyde and Renfrewshire is amongst the worst in Western Europe.
The new Overprovision Policy covers 15 out of the 18 areas within West Dunbartonshire, and will allow Councillors to reject all new liquor licence applications on the basis that these areas are already saturated with such venues. The ban will apply to most types of premises including pubs, off sales and supermarkets.
Even in the three areas not covered by the Overprovision Policy there will be more stringent controls on new licences, with applicants having to prove that customers would not travel from an overprovision area to purchase alcohol.
A handful of licensing boards in Scotland have proposed similar overprovision bans but these have been in isolated ‘alcohol hotspots’, rather than across huge areas of a local authority.
The decision follows extensive research carried out by the West Dunbartonshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership, made up of the local Council, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Strathclyde Police and others. This demonstrated a clear casual link between the problems experienced in the area and the number of licensed premises.
West Dunbartonshire currently has the second highest number of licensed premises in Scotland per head of population, and it is estimated that nearly 4,500 people in the area are alcohol dependent.
Councillor Jim Brown, Chair of the Licensing Board, said: “This area faces some significant alcohol related problems, and the sheer number of licensed premises does nothing to help that. Alcohol abuse has terrible effects on lives of people whether that is through poor health, an incapacity to work or domestic abuse.
“With the assistance of Council officers and partner agencies, we have been able to take a decision to do something quite radical to tackle this issue in West Dunbartonshire. We have far too many pubs, bars and off-sales shops given the size of the area, and with the Overprovision policy it will now be far easier to refuse new licenses. This is a significant step forward, and one where we are leading Scotland.”
Andrew Fraser, Clerk to the Licensing Board, said: “The Licensing (Scotland)Act 2005 made it easier for Boards to refuse new applications on the basis of overprovision. However in practice the legislation has not proved robust, and very few Boards across Scotland have produced an Overprovision Policy, and none on this scale. It has taken considerable effort to draft a policy we feel confident will stand up to scrutiny from rejected applicants, but we believe we have this now. If successful, I am sure that other Licensing Boards will be interested in a similar approach.”
Superintendent Kirk Kinnell, of Strathclyde Police, said: “The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 requires Licensing Boards to take a pro-active position on Overprovision and to identify those localities where it would not propose to grant new licences or licenced premises of a particular description. West Dunbartonshire Licensing Board has taken a positive stance in relation to Overprovision taking in to account the areas negative relationship with alcohol. Strathclyde Police fully support West Dunbartonshire in its Overprovision statement and its accurate reflection of the legislated licensing objectives.”
