Keg deposit scheme could start in 2008

Related tags Brewing Keg Beer British beer & pub association Society of independent brewers

Regional brewers are coming round to the idea of charging licensees deposits on kegs, under a proposed scheme that could start in 2008. That is...

Regional brewers are coming round to the idea of charging licensees deposits on kegs, under a proposed scheme that could start in 2008.

That is according to the British Beer & Pub Association's (BBPA) brewing director David Long, who heads the BBPA-backed working party looking at the idea.

Plans to charge licensees deposits of up to £50 per container were raised last year in response to a spate of thefts.

The BBPA has sent out questionnaires to brewers asking their views on details of the scheme. Last week, the working party made a presentation about keg deposits to council members of the Society of Independent Brewers (Siba).

Smaller brewers had expressed concern about the costs of implementing and operating a deposit system. James Crawfurd-Porter, MD of Tadcaster Pub Company, also said it was "unacceptable" to demand that a licensee pays a deposit.

Long told the MA: "The situation with containers isn't sustainable. Regional brewers are now starting to come around to the idea. There's a great will for container deposits to be implemented.

"We would expect a response [to the consultation] probably at the end of October, or the start of November, and when I've got the companies' word, I will process towards implementation."

Rupert Thompson, boss of Oxfordshire brewery Refresh, said he was "in principle, strongly in favour" of the scheme. "The only thing we've got to watch is that this doesn't create a huge amount of extra paperwork and doesn't discriminate against retailers who turn casks around quickly," he said.

David Grant, managing director of Lancashire-based Moorhouse's Brewery, who attended the Siba seminar, said: "A number of people on the council seemed to be in favour of it.

"At the moment, I'm very much on the fence. I want to know how much it will cost brewers to implement."

The cash-neutral option

The keg deposit scheme should only be implemented if it is "cash neutral" for licensees - that is the view of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations (FLVA).

FLVA chief executive Tony Payne said: "The only way we will agree to keg deposits is if it's cash neutral so that licensees only pay if they don't return the kegs eventually."

Payne said licensees should only pay if they don't return the kegs within two to three months after receiving them.

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