Licence fee rules unfair, say traders

SUPERMARKETS are being let off lightly under new rules on licensing fees, leaders of Scotland's licensed trade said today.

Under the new arrangements, a store with a rateable value of £2 million will pay the same as a large pub with a rateable value of just more than £140,000.

And the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) claims that amounts to special treatment for supermarkets.

They say the 759 licensed Scottish supermarkets account for nearly 45 per cent of all alcohol sales, but would pay only 7.5 per cent of the running costs for the first year of the new system.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill announced last month licensing boards were being given powers to set their own fees so the system was no longer subsidised by the council taxpayer. But he set maximum charges banded by the rateable value of the premises.

The SLTA wants a new top band to ensure supermarkets take a bigger share of the burden, and an end to the rule which automatically places registered clubs, like miners' welfare clubs, in the lowest band.

Colin Wilkinson, secretary of the SLTA, said it was "absurd" there was not an extra category to distinguish major supermarkets from the larger pubs.

He said: "How can the Government justify levying a fee of only £2000 for a premises such as Asda on the east side of Edinburgh, which has a rateable value in excess of £2m, and expect the rest of the licensed trade to pay up to £1100 based on rateable values of less than £35,000?"

Mr Wilkinson suggested an extra category should be created for premises with a rateable value over £1m, adding that the arrangements for registered clubs discriminated against "the genuine licensed trade".

He singled out Wallyford Miners' Welfare Club, which has a rateable value of £24,900, and claimed the smoking ban had cut bar takings by £100,000 to around £450,000.

Yet the club would pay just £200 for its initial application and £180 a year thereafter, compared with a pub with the same rateable value, which would have to pay £1100 and £280.

Fiona Moriarty, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: "It is important to remember the sale of alcohol is not the core business for supermarkets. We feel we already more than pay our way."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "A system based on turnover of alcohol sales would be bureaucratic and complicated to administer and would increase cost on the trade further."