Just remind me someone. Are the councils the enforcement authorities in Scotland for entertainment premises like in N.I.? And if so, do they take advice from the FB in relation to Fire Safety for the grant or renewal of an entertainment license?
NT
Statutory duties in relation to premises licensing provisions of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 are placed on the Local Authority (LA).
Part 3 of The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 introduced significant changes in fire safety enforcement in premises requiring a licence. Under Section 71of the 2005 Act, the Licensing Authority can no longer impose fire safety terms, conditions or restrictions in connection with the issue of a licence and all fire safety enforcement must be dealt with by the ”enforcing authority” as defined in Section 61(9) of the 2005 Act.
For most premises, this will be the FRS for the area.
Following these legislative changes it is clear that:
• licensing conditions relating to fire safety requirements are not acceptable, and
• The LA under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 has a continued statutory duty to consider matters of public safety (includes fire safety concerns) in deciding whether it is appropriate to grant a licence.
So the way forward is MOUs between FRS and LA to ensure working together on this overlap.