Committee raises pressure on pricing

Minimum pricing and paid-for-policing were back on the agenda for publicans this week following a new slating of the pub trade from MPs.

The Home Affairs Select Committee has called for councils to use make more "imaginative" use of new licensing powers to tackle irresponsible drinks promotions through the setting of minimum prices.

It also urged ministers to force pubs to make mandatory contributions to help local authorities cope with drink-related violence.

Chairman of the committee John Denham - a former Home Office minister - has been a consistent supporter of taxing pubs to pay for policing.

He said: "Effective enforcement, mandatory contributions from pubs and superclubs and minimum pricing policies all have a role to play."

The report brought swift reaction from the industry, which believes there are already sufficient laws in place to clamp down on irresponsible pubs.

Mark Hastings, director of communications at the British Beer & Pub Association, said: "The position on minimum pricing schemes could not be clearer. The Office of Fair Trading has consistently stated that price fixing or minimum pricing is prohibited under UK and European law."

Alistair Arkley, chairman of pub company New Century Inns, accused the committee's support for minimum pricing as being "certainly impractical, almost certainly illegal and a distraction from the main challenge of how we can encourage a sensible drinking culture".

"As for charging for policing, again the reality is that, as an industry, we already contribute more than £22bn a year in taxes and, of course, invest many millions more in measures such as CCTV and other security."

Licensee Rick Robinson of the Willougby Arms in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, said paid-for-policing and minimum pricing would be just another hit on the pub trade. "I would have to pass on the costs to my customers," he said.