No PASS scheme set to ease problems with ID
by John Harrington
Pub staff will soon be given extra help in identifying under-18s, and locating fake IDs, under a new initiative.
The "No PASS, no sale" scheme will involve the use of a hologram which will be difficult to forge and will appear on proof-of-age cards that have been audited by trading standards.
A number of cards are now being issued with the holograms. It is estimated that around 1.5m PASS cards will have been issued by 1 September, when the scheme goes live.
The scheme aims to clear up the confusion over the multitude of proof-of-age cards.
It follows last week's announcement that the Govern-ment is going to put on hold its plans to rush through a bill to introduce compulsory ID cards before the election.
Licensees and pub staff are warned that anyone caught selling alcohol to under-18s after 1 September would have no defence if trading standards or police catch them.
"No PASS, no sale" was developed by the PASS board, which includes representatives from the Home Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers, local author-ities and trade groups such as the British Beer & Pub Association, the BII (British Institute of Inn-keeping), and the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers.
PASS board chairman Robert Humphreys, who is also secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, said: "September 1 is a very important date for frontline staff in shops, bars and clubs and the teenagers they serve.
"PASS is helping drive out forgeries and protect retail staff from the risk of prosecution. I am confident that this single national system of accreditation will make it easier for retailers and their staff to stay within the law."
Home Office minister Hazel Blears gave a ringing endorsement of the PASS scheme.
She told the Morning Adver-tiser's sister publication OLN that the Government wants to "support cards that are difficult to forge and encourage cards that have the PASS mark".
l ID cards that have been accredited for the PASS scheme, and are being issued with a hologram, are Citizencard, Connexions, Portman's Prove-IT, Edgecard, Validate, Bite Card, Young Scot.
Cards issued by local authorities in Stockport, Herefordshire, Wrexham, Bury (Lancashire) and Sandwell (West Midlands) have also been accredited.
