1,000 drop in licensed premises

THE number of licensed premises in Scotland has dropped dramatically in the last five years, official figures show.

The first liquor licensing statistics since the Licensing Act 2005 came into force shows a 6 per cent drop in the number of licences issued since 2006.

The Scottish Licensed Trade Association has blamed the impact of the smoking ban in pubs, which came into effect in March 2006, the continuing “irresponsibly low prices” in supermarket alcohol, alongside the rise in licensing charges associated with Act.

The figures show a gradual downward drift in licenses between 2003 to 2006, but from 2007 onwards the numbers fall dramatically.

The number of licensed premises has dropped from 17,234 in 2006 to 16,296 last year.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The 2005 Act passed during the previous administration was expected to have some effect as people operating with dual licences – such as hotels with a bar – merged their licences and some operators who only sold alcohol as a very peripheral part of their business, such as gift shops, gave up licences.

“There may also be more people drinking at home.”