North Ayrshire Licensing Board

North Ayrshire Licensing Board is the statutory licensing authority responsible for all Alcohol and Betting Licences in North Ayrshire. The Board is constituted under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and Gambling Act 2005.

North Ayrshire Council elects Councillors to be Members of the Board. The Convenor of the Licensing Board is Councillor Eleanor Collier. The Clerk to the Licensing Board is the Council's Senior Legal Services Manager, Raymond Lynch.

Please read the North Ayrshire Licensing Board Guide to Information (Word, 75kb).

Licensing Board dates

Many licensing decisions can be made by the Clerk using authority granted by the Board, so these decisions can be made without needing a Board meeting (this arrangement is called 'Delegated Powers').

Some decisions are on a list of reserved decisions, which means that only the Licensing Board can make them. The Reserved List includes decisions to:

  • grant new Premises Licences
  • make Major Variations to existing Premises Licences
  • review Premises Licences (hear complaints)

The Reserved List is prescribed by Law and the Licensing Board cannot change it.

If you want something on the Reserved List you should lodge your application at latest by the Friday 8 weeks before the date you want the Board to deal with your case. If you do this, we will try to have your case dealt with at your chosen Board meeting, but we cannot guarantee to do so, so your case may have to wait for a later meeting.

The Board meetings for 2024 are:

  • March Meeting - Monday 18 March 2024 (Friday 19 January 2024, 4pm)
  • June Meeting - Monday 17 June 2024 (Friday 19 April 2024, 4pm)
  • September Meeting - Monday 9 September 2024 (Friday 12 July 2024, 4pm)
  • December Meeting - Monday 9 December 2024 (Friday 11 October 2024, 4pm)

The Board may also set additional special meetings.

Board meetings

The Board meet in Council Chambers, Cunninghame House, Irvine. All proceedings are held in public except that before making a decision the Board might retire to another room to discuss the case before returning to the Chambers to make the decision.

For several months during the Coronavirus Emergency the Board met using video-conferencing instead of meeting in public, so applicants for licences, licence-holders and other parties would be invited to join the Board's video-conferences when appropriate. This no longer happens and the Board are now meeting as they did before Coronavirus.

View North Ayrshire Licensing Board Agendas and Minutes.

Statement of Reasons

If the Licensing Board is asked to issue a statement of reasons explaining a decision, in addition to notifying affected parties. Please view our statement of reasons page for more information.

Licensing Policy Statement

The Licensing Board adopted a Licensing Policy Statement (PDF, 1.4MB) under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 for the period 2023 to 2027. Annex D of the Licensing Policy Statement relates to Overprovision.

Objections and Complaints about Licensed Premises

The Board has stated advice (PDF, 110kb) on making comments and complaints. How to make a Complaint/Premises Licence review application (Word, 22kb) to the Licensing Board, under Section 36 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

Mainstreaming Equality and Equality Outcomes

Information on the Board's equality outcomes and the progress it has made to mainstream equality is contained in the Board's:

Minimum unit pricing compliance statistics

Annual Functions Report under Section 9A of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005

Contact Licensing

Email

licensing@north-ayrshire.gov.uk

Telephone

01294 310000

Address

Licensing Section, Legal Services, North Ayrshire Council, Cunninghame House, Irvine, KA12 8EE

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