Perth and Kinross licensed trade praised as just one drunk and disorderly behaviour offence recorded by police last year. The Chief Constable’s Annual Licensing Report for 2023/24 reported just one drunk and disorderly behaviour offence on a licensed premise.
Perth and Kinross Council headquarters on 2 High Street, Perth. The figures were included in the Chief Constable’s Annual Licensing Report for 2023/24. Perth and Kinross Licensing Board examined the report when it met on Wednesday, September 25. PC Kerry Thomson-Craig presented the annual report by Police Scotland’s Chief Constable Jo Farrell to councillors at Wednesday’s meeting in the council chambers.
Chief Constable of Police Scotland Jo Farrell. She praised the work of those in the licensed trade who had minimised the number of offences which occurred in Perth and Kinross, an area which stretches over 2000 square miles. PC Thomson-Craig said, “Despite it being such a large geographical area that the board covers, there are very few licensing offences that do actually occur. We’ve been working with the trade itself and have been actively offering bystander training which encourages staff to intervene very early to prevent situations from escalating. We also assist them in identifying vulnerabilities of patrons on the premises and how they can best support these patrons; that will continue over the next year. Of the offences that have been detected the majority are for failing to quit a premises when asked by members of staff so it’s good work by the staff of these premises.”
Between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, police officers made 719 recorded inspections to licensed premises. There were 169 recorded incidents involving incidents of crime, drunkenness, disorder, or minor breaches of licensing legislation. There were only 15 recorded offences during that time: two offences of a drunk person entering a licensed premise; 12 refusals to leave a licensed premise and just one of drunk and disorderly behaviour on a licensed premise.
As of April 2024, Perth and Kinross has 626 licensed premises: 288 are on and off sales; 169 on sales, and 169 off sales premises. There has been an increase in the number of license applications processed from the previous year. The number of applications for occasional licences rose from 1252 in 2022/2023 to 1357 in 2023/2024. Personal license applications rose from 183 to 245, premises licenses from 17 to 23, and requests for variations to licenses rose from 140 to 187.
Bailie Mike Williamson said the board had seen a rise in applications for online sales. He asked how online alcohol sales would be managed from a policing perspective. PC Thomson-Craig said, “Obviously since COVID times, a lot of premises are having to adapt. A lot of new businesses came out over that period as well, and we do have an increase in small microbreweries and a lot of their business is conducted online. It’s really just business as usual for us, in terms of processing the applications, and provided the applicants have got the proper policies in place for online sales in terms of age verification, etc. It’s just routine business and I don’t think a great deal will change in respect of what we do at the moment.”
Licensing board convener Peter Barrett thanked the collaboration between the police, council licensing staff, and those in the licensed trade “to make Perth and Kinross a safe and secure place to socialise.”