Cheap drinks and promotions are banned

4th December 2008, 9:40am

Happy hours and cheap drinks will soon be a thing of the past after measures were announced to ban promotions encouraging binge drinking.

The new government rules are:

• Banning offers like 'all you can drink for £10' 

• Outlawing pubs and bars offering promotions to certain social groups i.e. 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 

• Requiring bars and pubs to have the minimum sized glasses available for customers who want them

Home secretary, Jacqui Smith explained how these rules are part of an overall crackdown on anti-social behaviour: "I don't want the vast majority of people who enjoy alcohol and drink responsibly from doing so but we all face a cost from alcohol-related disorder and I have a duty to crack down on irresponsible promotions that can fuel excessive drinking and lead people in crime and disorder."

In addition to these new rules, anyone who sells alcohol will now have to sign up to a compulsory code of conduct after a voluntary code was deemed unsuccessful. 

Licensing authorities will also be given new powers to clamp down on specific alcohol-related problems in their area.

But the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has warned that although the industry will cooperate with the new rules, there is concern that they could accelerate pub closures and falling sales.

BBPA Chief Executive Rob Hayward said: "Mandatory Code proposals will impose an unnecessary, disproportionate and costly red-tape burden on well run community pubs. They will condemn more pubs to closure and put more people out of work.

"Small businesses, such as community pubs are groaning under the strain of the economic recession. There is some sign that the Government is starting to hear the concerns of consumers and industry and recognise the damage being done to pubs. This is no time to be looking for new ways to increase red-tape costs and burdens, placing ever more pubs and jobs in jeopardy."

Jeremy Beadles, Chief Executive of the WSTA, echoed these thoughts: "We will work with Government to ensure that a retail code tackles the minority of irresponsible premises and doesn't just create new layers of bureaucracy and red-tape for the majority of responsible businesses, local authorities and our over-stretched police forces."

This week has also seen a University of Sheffield study confirm a strong link between increasing the price of alcohol and seeing a reduction in alcohol-related disorder.

Dr Petra Meier from the University of Sheffield´s School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), who led the research, said: "The results suggest that policies which increase the price of alcohol can bring significant health and social benefits and lead to considerable financial savings in the NHS, criminal justice system and in the workplace.

"Our results also show that targeting price increases at cheaper types of alcohol would affect harmful and hazardous drinkers far more than moderate drinkers. Of course these heavier drinkers, by definition, buy more alcohol, but detailed analysis of data on purchasing patterns also shows that they tend to buy more of the cheaper beers, wines and spirits.

"The effects of price increases may incidentally be advantageous for alcohol retailers (both in off-trade and on-trade) because the estimated decrease in sales volume is more than offset by the unit price increase, leading to overall increases in revenue."

Related Articles:

• 08 Sep 2009 - BMA calls for ban on alcohol advertising
• 01 Sep 2009 - Scottish drink laws introduced today

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