Government support for clampdown on promotions

New pub industry guidelines aimed at stamping out irresponsible promotions in pubs in England and Wales have been backed by the government.

But the Home Office has vowed to push ahead with the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, which could see pubs in designated areas asked to pay for the clean-up costs of alcohol-related disorder.

Guidelines listed in the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) code of practice, agreed by the 70 pubcos and brewers which make up its members, are aimed at banning promotions which are deemed to encourage excessive drinking or anti-social behaviour, including most happy hours.

Home Office minister Hazel Blears said she "very much welcomed" the initiative. "I fully support this guidance as part of the trade's ongoing work to help tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder," she said.

"We want to see an end to the grossly irresponsible promotions that encourage 'speed drinking'.

"This guidance will help reduce alcohol-related disorder while offering practical advice to pubs so they can still be competitive and offer customers a wide choice."

But Ms Blears added: "The government is serious about tackling alcohol-related disorder and this will be backed up by a Violent Crime Reduction Bill which will take forward the proposals published in the 'Drinking Responsibly' consultation paper earlier this year."

Proposals in the paper included alcohol disorder zones and the introduction of a 24-hour banning order on selling alcohol where licensees are caught serving underage customers.

BBPA communications director Mark Hastings vowed that the pub trade would banish irresponsible promotions. "We can deliver on this because we have been working on it for some time and the pub companies have been embedding it," he said.

Francis Patton, customer services director at Punch Taverns, said all his tenants were being encouraged to adopt the policy.

"It is in all our interests to tackle this issue," he said.

"We urge retailers throughout the Punch estate to adopt the policy. We have already circulated advice to all our pubs on responsible drinking and acceptable promotional activity."

Ted Tuppen, chief executive of Enterprise Inns, claimed it had long been the company's policy to discourage irresponsible promotions among tenants.

"We've always said that the pub is the home of responsible drinking and I'd like to think that you could say that about Enterprise pubs," he said.

Ministers in Scotland are already pushing forward a bill which will ban irresponsible promotions, including happy hours.

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