COVID-19 LICENSING UPDATE

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT REJECTS 8AM OFF-SALES PROPOSAL

STEPHEN MCGOWAN, HEAD OF LICENSING, TLT SOLICITORS

THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT YESTERDAY REJECTED AN INNOVATIVE PROPOSED AMENDMENT BY MURDOCH FRASER MSP TO ALLOW RETAILERS TO SELL ALCOHOL FROM 8AM TO ALLOW KEY WORKERS TO AVOID QUEUES AND CROWDS. TLT HEAD OF LICENSING STEPHEN MCGOWAN ANALYSES AN INTERESTING DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT.

The Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Bill is working its way through the Scottish Parliament with the same velocity as the first and will soon become law. One of the interesting licensing vignettes of the Bill was a proposed amendment during the Committee Stage 2, made by Murdo Fraser MSP yesterday.

The idea was to allow off-sales premises to sell alcohol from 8am instead of the current earliest time of 10am. The genesis of this amendment, according to Fraser, was a desire expressed to him by his constituents to allow greater shopping flexibility for vulnerable persons and key workers who had been encouraged to shop earlier to avoid crowds and queuing.

The idea of relaxing any sort of law concerning alcohol sales is always going to provoke reaction. During the short debate, Monica Lennon MSP pointed to the perceived impact of alcohol consumption on immunity while Michael Russell MSP pointed to some technical issues with the proposed amendment.

There was some support from the Liberal Democrats, with Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP backing the concept on the basis it was a temporary measure in unusual times. He also offered a view that the restriction of licensed hours “is rather ineffective in tackling Scotland’s unhealthy relationship with alcohol”, although that was not explored further.

In the end, what was always going to be a controversial proposal did not gain traction. Mr Fraser pressed the amendment, and the vote was six to three against. It is doubtful this will resurface.

What is sometimes forgotten in debates around offsales times in Scotland is that the creation of the 10am rule was entirely arbitrary. It was not based on any evidence or assessment, but plucked out of thin air at the last minute. When Parliament debated this part of the Act, it was widely acknowledged as one of the most undignified sessions Holyrood had seen or has seen since.

Instead of an open-ended approach, a number of alternatives were raised in the debating chamber, including 8am to 3am. Ultimately, a proposal by Frank McAveety MSP to go for 10am to 10pm won out. Mr McAveety’s proposal was based purely on anecdotal evidence that harmful drinkers using a treatment facility in the Saltmarket area of Glasgow would resort to local shops at 8am to buy alcohol and that they were drinking harmfully.

While I present no view on the desirability of allowing off sales from 10am or 8am, law making should be based on probative evidence. There is also an important difference between causation and correlation when it comes to alcohol availability and consumption, which has been well-aired in other places.