Pressure to extend promotions ban to shops

Related tags Drinks promotions Scotland

Politicians in Scotland are calling for measures to tackle drinks promotions in pubs and clubs to be extended to the off-trade.An influential...

Politicians in Scotland are calling for measures to tackle drinks promotions in pubs and clubs to be extended to the off-trade.

An influential committee of MSPs said it was not happy that controls on irresponsible offers set out in the Licensing (Scotland) Bill - which include a ban on happy hours - would not be applied to shops.

The Scottish Parliament's Local Government and Transport Committee is broadly backing licensing reform north of the border. But the comments, in a report on the bill, raise the pressure on the Scottish Executive to take action against the supermarkets.

The situation mirrors that in England and Wales, where the pub trade continues to express disgust at the exclusion of the off-trade from the responsible drinking debate.

Committee convenor Bristow Muldoon said: "The committee appreciates that the Executive needs to gather evidence to link off-sales with anti-social behaviour, but we urge ministers to treat the off-sales sector on the same basis as on-sales if they find the evidence required."

The Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA) backed the comments. "We are not supportive of restricting all types of drinks promotions," said SBPA chief executive Patrick Browne.

"But if it is correct for the Scottish Executive to intervene in the commercial operation of the on-trade then these limits should also be extended to off-licences. There is a growing problem of consumers drinking excesses of alcohol in the home environment before heading out to pubs or clubs, and the Scottish Executive seems unwilling to tackle this problem."

But Mr Browne said he was unhappy that the committee was backing provision in the Bill for "any person" to object to licensing applications, rather than simply anyone living close to a venue.

The Scottish Parliament is now due to finalise the details of the bill, before returning to the committee for line-by-line scrutiny later this year.

Related topics Licensing law

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