Kick-Off Time: Aberdeen’s World Cup Licensing Extension Raises Questions of Fairness and Formality

As Scotland prepares for its long-awaited return to football’s global stage, a wave of national excitement is set to sweep through pubs and venues across the country. In Aberdeen, the local Licensing Board has moved to harness this communal spirit by granting a general extension of licensed hours for premises showing the national team’s World Cup matches. While welcomed by many publicans and fans, the decision has thrust complex licensing issues into the spotlight, particularly surrounding the Board’s informal suggestion that it would “turn a blind eye” to venues lacking “televised sport” on their operating plans.

The Extension: A Pragmatic Response

The Board’s blanket extension is a pragmatic solution to a predictable surge in demand. It avoids a cumbersome, venue-by-venue application process and ensures supporters can gather legally to watch matches that run beyond standard licensing hours. The move recognises the significant social and economic benefits for the city’s hospitality sector, fostering a controlled, celebratory environment for a major national event.

The “Blind Eye”: A Well-Intentioned But Risky Stance

However, the Board’s accompanying suggestion—that it would adopt a lenient approach towards venues whose operating plans do not explicitly permit “televised sport”—introduces a significant grey area. An operating plan is a fundamental component of a premises licence, detailing authorised activities. It forms a contract between the licensee and the Board, and is crucial for neighbours, police, and enforcement bodies to understand the nature of the business.

The formal position of any Licensing Board in Scotland, including Aberdeen, remains that a premises must operate strictly in accordance with the terms of its licence, including its operating plan. If "televised sport" is not listed, showing it is technically a breach of licence conditions.

Turning a blind eye, even for a popular cause, carries inherent risks:

1. Undermining the Licensing Framework: The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 is built on the principles of consistency, transparency, and legal certainty. Selective non-enforcement, however well-meaning, challenges these principles. It can be perceived as unfair by venues that have gone through the correct process to vary their licence, potentially at cost, to include televised sport.

   
   

2. Creating a Precedent: Where does informal leniency end? If granted for the World Cup, could it be expected for other major events? This blurs the lines of regulatory expectation for licensees.

   
   

3. Insurance Complications: This is arguably the most serious practical risk. Most public liability and commercial insurance policies are underpinned by the premise that the business is operating within the terms of its licence. If a venue knowingly operates outside its operating plan, it may invalidate its insurance cover. In the event of an incident—be it an alcohol-related disorder, a slip-and-fall, or worse—the licensee could be left personally liable for massive claims. Insurers are unlikely to accept “the Licensing Board said they would turn a blind eye” as a valid defence.

   
   

Formalising the Approach: Pathways to Clarity

The Board’s intention to support business and community spirit is clear, but its approach could be strengthened through formalisation. Alternatives to an informal “blind eye” include:

• A Fast Track Variation Process: The Board could establish a fast-tracked, simplified, and potentially fee-waived application for a variation of operating plans to enable the inclusion of televised sport. This maintains regulatory integrity.

  
  

• A Formal Public Statement of Policy: The Board could issue a clear, minuted policy statement for the event duration. This could note that, for these specific matches, the enforcement priority regarding operating plans will be on public safety and disorder, not on the technicality of “televised sport” listings, provided no other licence conditions are breached. While not perfect, this at least creates a transparent, minuted position.

  
  

Other Risks on the Radar

Beyond licensing and insurance, other risks are amplified during such extensions:

• Public Safety and Overcrowding: Extended hours and high-demand matches increase risks of overcrowding and pressure on staff. Licensing standards officers and police will need to be particularly vigilant on match days.

  
  

• Conditional Compliance: Venues must still adhere rigidly to all other mandatory conditions—including Challenge 25, compliance with provisions relating to children and young persons, staff training, and the availability of non-alcoholic drinks. The extension of hours is not a relaxation of these fundamental responsibilities.

  
  

• Neighbourhood Impact: The Board must balance the city-centre celebratory atmosphere with the rights of residents in proximity to licensed premises, ensuring extended hours do not lead to unacceptable noise or disturbance.

  
  

Conclusion: A Goal That Needs Straight Lines

Aberdeen City Licensing Board’s decision to grant a general extension is a timely and positive step. However, the accompanying informal stance on operating plans, while likely intended to reduce bureaucracy, inadvertently passes a significant risk onto publicans and muddies the waters of fair and predictable regulation.

For the sake of licensees, their customers, and the integrity of the licensing system itself, such gestures of flexibility should be framed within the clearest possible legal and formal parameters. As the city gears up to support Scotland, the goal should be a victory for hospitality that is scored within the straight lines of robust, transparent, and safe licensing practice.

I have raised this with the clerk, and will provide any updates if I hear back. The first thing licence holders should do though is to check their operating plans, and if any changes are needed to the provisions on children, young persons or televised sport, then get in touch with me as soon as possible.