A licence is required by anybody who wishes to sell alcohol to the public. The licence is granted for the premises from which the alcohol will be sold such as a pub, hotel, night club, restaurant or "off licence".
To get the licence an application is made to the Moray Licensing Board. The Board has control over:
Standard opening hours for licensed premises are:
Mon – Sat 11.00am to 11.00pm
Sun 12.30pm to 2.30pm and
6.30pm to 11.00pm
with the exception of off licences whose hours are:
Mon – Sat 8.00am to 10.00pm
Sun 12.30pm to 10.00pm
The basis for granting extensions of opening hours is that the social circumstances of the area, or activities taking place, justify extra hours to accommodate tourists, competitions or entertainment.
How You Find Out About Licensing Applications
All applications for new licences and regular extensions are advertised in the Northern Scot newspaper approximately three weeks before the appropriate Licensing Board Meeting.
Applicants for a new licence must also display a site notice outside the premises. This notice must be displayed for at least 21 days before the day of the Licensing Board Meeting. A copy must also be sent to every other occupier within the building.
The following people and organisations can all object to a licence application:
When you wish to object to a licensing application, you must write to the Clerk of the Licensing Board.
For NEW LICENCES your objection must be based on Section 17 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976. You must say in your letter which one or more of these categories is relevant:
For REGULAR EXTENSIONS to opening hours you should:
Include as many details as possible in your letter of objection. You must state which of the reasons for refusal listed above applies, and include evidence if there are enough licensed premises in the area already, there is already too much late night noise and disturbance, give examples of times when you have been disturbed.
Remember to sign your letter of objection and give your address – anonymous letters cannot be considered.
When and How to Send in Your Objection
The closing date for objections is given in the advertisements which appear in the Northern Scot newspaper and on the site notices. All objections must be received by the Licensing Board by that date – the Board generally cannot consider late objections. The 1976 Act at Section 13(2) does give the board a discretion to consider late objections if the failure to lodge them on time has been due to inadvertence or misadventure.
Send or hand deliver your original objection to the Board. The address and opening hours are given on at the end of this leaflet.
You must also send and exact copy of your objection to the applicant by recorded delivery or by hand. Do not use first or second class mail for this purpose. If the applicant is a company, send your objection to the office address.
Petitions are usually accepted as evidence of general opposition to an application. If you are submitting a petition, you must send the original to the Licensing Board and a copy to the applicant.
Everyone who sends in a letter of objection will be invited to attend the next Licensing Board meeting. The Licensing Board meets quarterly in January, March, June and October. The meetings are held in the Council Chambers, Council Office, High Street, Elgin, they start at 10.00am and normally last at least half a day. Many applications are considered at the meeting and you may have to wait for your objection to be heard. The Board meetings are open to the public.
At the meeting, the applicant or their solicitor will be asked whether they accept your objection has been competently served. If they agree a copy of your objection will be distributed to the Board Members. You or your representative or spokesperson will then be asked to state your objection, and Board Members may ask questions. The applicant or their solicitor will then be given the opportunity to explain why they think the application should be granted. Finally, you or your representative or spokesperson and the applicant will be given a chance to sum up and the Board will then decide whether to grant or refuse the application.
If there are several people objecting on the same grounds you may wish to appoint a spokesperson to present your case. If you are unable to attend, you may wish to appoint someone to represent you. If your objection is to an application other than for a Regular Extension of Permitted Hours and you are unable to attend or be represented the Board will still consider your written objection but you will have no right of appeal. If however our objection is to an application for Regular Extension of Permitted Hours and you do not attend or are not represented it may result in your objections not being considered at all.
You can ask the Clerk of the Board for the reasons for the Board’s decision within 48 hours of the meeting. He will write back to you with these within 21 days.
If the Board grants a NEW LICENCE, despite your objection you may appeal to the Sheriff, but you will not be entitled to appeal if you have not attended the Licensing Board meeting.
The Sheriff must receive your appeal either within 14 days of the meeting or, if you requested the reasons for the Board’s decision, within 14 days of your receipt for the Clerk’s reply.
The Sheriff can only overturn the decision if the Board has made a legal or factual mistake, acted contrary to natural justice or exercised its discretion unreasonably.
There is no right of appeal to the Sheriff against granting REGULAR EXTENSIONS of Opening Hours.
Clerk to the Licensing Board
Council Office
High Street
Elgin
IV30 1BX
Tel: 01343 563030
Fax: 01343 540183
E-mail: lynn.may@moray.gov.uk
Office Hours
Monday to Friday: 8.45am to 5.00pm