BBPA: stick to code or face closure

by Ewan Turney

Local authorities and police will be empowered to take sanctions, ranging from fines to loss of licence, against rogue licensees who habitually breach the British Beer & Pub Association's (BBPA) code on promotions.

The BBPA "fully expects" the Government to recommend that all local authorities adopt the code as a set of industry standards by which to judge licensed premises.

The BBPA had originally planned for the code to be incorporated into local authority licensing policies as a licensing condition but delays caused by an Office of Fair Trading examination put paid to that hope.

At present, only a handful of authorities have incorporated the code in their licensing policies, but the BBPA hopes that Government backing will act to embed the code in the new regime.

"The code is already a concrete part of the Licensing Act as it appears in the guidance," said director of communications Mark Hastings. "It allows the local authorities and police, essentially the most relevant bodies to enforce it at ground level, to look at the issues in depth and have the potential to apply conditions and sanctions to pubs which continually break the code."

The code emphasises firm standards for all promotional activity based on the fundamental principle that "the deeper the discount and shorter the time of the promotion, the more likely a promotion is to encourage excessive drinking". It identifies and rules out a number of promotions that encourage speed or excessive drinking but does allow for flexibility.

"Clearly different promotions have a different effect in different premises," said Hastings. "Two glasses of wine for the price of one at a country pub on a Sunday lunchtime is clearly different from some two-for-one offers on the high street. There is flexibility but also clarity that any promotions fuelling excessive drinking fall foul of the code."

Hastings added: "The most important aspect of the code is that it provides clear advice to licensees on how to run promotions in a way so as not to fuel excessive drinking and also how to prevent themselves from gaining a bad reputation and creating problems."

All member companies of the BBPA, accounting for two-thirds of Britain's pubs, already abide by the code on a voluntary basis.

Consultation on the Govern-ment's Responsible Drinking paper, which specifically encourages the adoption of the code, is due to end on 28 February but the BBPA insists it will publicly launch the code before that date.

John Hayes, chairman of the Bar Entertainment and Dance Association, said: "Any promotion can be bad if it is badly managed. It is all down to management. You have to have standards but we still believe the only way to solve the problem of irresponsible promotions is through minimum pricing."

l Reform round-up ­ p3

Minimum pricing is illegal, says OFT

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has reiterated that minimum price schemes are illegal despite a misleading story appearing in the Guardian newspaper.

The Guardian claimed that the OFT had written to all local authorities advising them that minimum pricing would be an option if specifically targeted at trouble hot spots based on evidence of disorder.

However, the OFT told the Morning Advertiser that this information was "incorrect" and that a spokesperson had simply reiterated its well stated position on minimum pricing.

A spokeswoman said: "We wrote to Lacors to advise them on where exemptions to the Competitions Act may occur but price fixing is very serious and unlikely to fall in the category of exemptions. It is not a proportionate way of curbing excessive drinking. The police already have existing powers."

The OFT's official position on the schemes remains: "Where licensees meet together and set a minimum price ­ that amounts to price fixing and is likely to face a challenge under chapter one of the Competitions Act. Where police and local authorities set minimum prices as a condition of a licence, it is unlikely to face a challenge if they have the power to do so."

The key point is that the police and local authorities expressly do not have the power to do so ­ therefore minimum pricing remains illegal.