Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Local Licensing Forums

10Local Licensing Forums

(1)Each council must establish a Local Licensing Forum for their area.

(2)However, where the area of a council is divided into licensing divisions, the council may, instead of establishing a Local Licensing Forum for their area, establish separate such Forums for each division.

(3)Each Licensing Board must hold, at least once in each calendar year, a joint meeting with the Local Licensing Forum for the Board’s area.

(4)Schedule 2 makes further provision about Local Licensing Forums, including provision about their membership and procedural and other administrative matters in relation to them.

11General functions of Local Licensing Forums

(1)Each Local Licensing Forum has the following general functions—

(a)keeping under review—

(i)the operation of this Act in the Forum’s area, and,

(ii)in particular, the exercise by the relevant Licensing Board or Boards of their functions, and

(b)giving such advice and making such recommendations to that or any of those Boards in relation to those matters as the Forum considers appropriate.

(2)Subsection (1) does not enable a Local Licensing Forum to—

(a)review, or

(b)give advice, or make recommendations, in relation to,

the exercise by a Licensing Board of their functions in relation to a particular case.

(3)In this section, section 12 and schedule 2, “relevant Licensing Board”, in relation to a Local Licensing Forum, means—

(a)the Licensing Board for the Forum’s area, or

(b)in the case of a Local Licensing Forum for a council area which is divided into licensing divisions, each of the Licensing Boards for those divisions.

12Licensing Boards' duties in relation to Local Licensing Forums

(1)A Licensing Board must—

(a)in exercising any function, have regard to any advice given, or recommendation made, to them in relation to the function by a Local Licensing Forum, and

(b)where the Board decides not to follow the advice or recommendation, give the Forum reasons for the decision.

(2)At the request of a Local Licensing Forum, a relevant Licensing Board must provide to the Forum copies of such relevant statistical information as the Forum may reasonably require for the purposes of the Forum’s general functions.

(3)In this section, “relevant statistical information” means, in relation to a Licensing Board, such statistical information as the Board may have obtained under section 6(5).