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Government calls time on irresponsible drink deals

A ban on ‘all you can drink’ promotions in pubs and bars was among a range of new measures announced by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Health Secretary Alan Johnson, supported by a new £4.5 million crackdown on alcohol fuelled crime and disorder. The measures will form part of the legislative programme announced in the Queen’s Speech in November 2007.

Following an independent review, which found that many retailers were not abiding by their own voluntary standards for responsible selling and marketing of alcohol, the Government now intends to introduce a new mandatory code of practice to target “the most irresponsible” retail practices. The code will set out compulsory licensing conditions for all alcohol retailers, and will give licensing authorities new powers to clamp down on specific problems in their areas. Licensing authorities will also be able to impose these new powers on several premises at once. The mandatory code will be enforced through the current licensing regime and will apply to all premises licensed to sell alcohol – including private members clubs. Any breaches of these conditions will lead to a review of the licence (and possible loss of licence) or, on summary conviction, a maximum £20,000 fine and/ or six months imprisonment.

The Government announced that it would consult interested partieson a range of compulsory conditions including:

  • banning offers like ‘all you can drink for £10’
  • outlawing pubs and bars offering promotions to certain groups, such as women only
  • ensuring that customers in supermarkets are not required to buy very large amounts of a product to take advantage of price discounts
  • ensuring staff selling alcohol are properly trained
  • requiring that consumers are able to see unit content of all alcohol when they buy it; and
  • requiring bars and pubs to have the minimum sized glasses available for customers who want them.

The Government also announced that Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships are being awarded a £3 million cash injection to target enforcement activities on specific alcohol-related problems in 190 areas across all police forces. In addition, £1.5 million will be given to a number of priority areas to strengthen their ability to tackle underage sales, confiscate alcohol from under 18s and run communications campaigns to tell people what action is being taken to reduce alcohol-related crime and disorder successfully in their local area.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:

“I don’t want to stop the vast majority of people who enjoy alcohol and drink responsibly from doing so but we all face a cost from alcoholrelated disorder and I have a duty to crack down on irresponsible promotions that can fuel excessive drinking and lead people into crime and disorder. That’s why I will impose new standards on the alcohol industry that everyone will have to meet with tough penalties if they break the rules.

“There is no simple solution to tackling this problem - we all have a responsibility to tackle the binge drinking culture. I look forward to seeing the results of our £4.5 million crackdown on alcohol fuelled crime and disorder.”

The Government undertook a public consultation on a mandatory code in July this year. Over 90 per cent of approximately 2,000 respondents supported a mandatory code.

Mike Craik, Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead for Alcohol Licensing, welcomed the measures. He said:

“For too long, some retailers have been putting profits before responsibility and cutting the price of alcohol until it is cheaper than water.

“There is no doubt that irresponsible drinking leads to alcohol-fuelled violence and suggestions that enforcement alone can provide an answer ignore the obvious. Last year, nearly one fifth of all violent incidents took place in or around pubs and clubs at a cost of £7.3 billion to the UK. While there are many who trade responsibly, there are also, as the KPMG study released earlier this year showed, a great many who do not. So the industry has an important part to play in helping to reduce the excessive drinking that leads to alcohol-fuelled disorder on our streets. “ACPO has consistently called for end-to-end solutions bringing together the police, local authorities, industry, parents and all those in each neighbourhood who share an interest in tackling alcohol-related crime and disorder. We look forward to working with Government and partners on proposals to meet this aim.”

David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group, the social responsibility organisation for drinks producers, also welcomed the proposed mandatory code as a method of strengthening the existing licensing laws while allowing effective producer selfregulation to flourish. The code would “stamp out irresponsible promotions without making everyone pay more for a drink”.