ORKNEY ISLANDS AREA LICENSING BOARD

PREMISES LICENCES INCLUDING OCCASIONAL EXTENSIONS

INFORMATION RE AGE VERIFICATION POLICY AND SIGNAGE

It is a mandatory condition of a premises licence that an Age Verification Policy must be in place. It is recommended that this policy should be in writing and that every person serving or selling alcohol signs to show that they understand the policy. It is also recommended that appropriate signage should be in place.

The following is an example of a written Age Verification Policy –

LICENSING (SCOTLAND) ACT 2005

AGE VERIFICATION POLICY – STAFF DECLARATION

PREMISES LICENCES – PREMISES AGE VERIFICATION POLICY

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PREMISES –

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The sale of alcohol to a child or young person (that is to say, a person aged under 18) is an offence which may lead to a fine of up to £5,000 and/or a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 months. Such a sale will also lead to a review of the premises licence and could result in the licence being suspended or revoked.

[Insert name of premises licence holder(s)] –

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

operate an ‘age verification policy’, in terms of which you must require production of an acceptable proof-of-age document if you are in any doubt as to whether a person seeking to buy alcohol is less than 25 [or insert higher age] years of age.

Only the following documents are acceptable for proof-of-age purposes:

• passport
• photographic driving licence
• proof of age card bearing a PASS hologram
• Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence ID Card)
• Biometric Residents Permit
• national identity card issued by an EU member state, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland

If no such document is produced or if you have a suspicion that the document presented is not genuine, or has been tampered with or has been altered, then you must refuse the sale or refuse to authorise the sale.

Declaration:

I have read and understood the foregoing policy.

I understand that failure to comply with its terms will be treated as gross misconduct and may lead to dismissal from my employment.

Signed: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …. Date: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The following is an example of appropriate signage –

IMAGE: Example Challenge 25 alcohol-age-verification poster. The poster reads: “UNDER 25?” “ACCEPTABLE FORMS OF ID: CARDS BEARING THE PASS HOLOGRAM; PHOTOGRAPHIC DRIVING LICENCE; PASSPORT.” It states: “IF YOU ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO LOOK UNDER 25 YOU WILL BE ASKED TO PROVE THAT YOU ARE AGED 18 OR OVER WHEN YOU BUY ALCOHOL.” It also states: “IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 YOU ARE COMMITTING AN OFFENCE IF YOU ATTEMPT TO BUY ALCOHOL.” The poster includes the text “drinkaware.co.uk for the facts about alcohol” and “WWW.CHALLENGE25.ORG”, along with “PASS” and the Challenge 25 logo.