MPs: Ban all drinks promotions

By John Harrington

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Drinks promotions Police

Report blames cheap promotions in pubs and cut-price supermarket deals
Report blames cheap promotions in pubs and cut-price supermarket deals
An influential group of MPs has urged a ban on drinks promotions in pubs, plus minimum pricing and an end to loss-leading alcohol sales in shops. The...

An influential group of MPs has urged a ban on drinks promotions in pubs, plus minimum pricing and an end to loss-leading alcohol sales in shops.

The report from the Home Affairs Committee recommends a mandatory code of conduct for pubs — with penalties for breaches — and supports the principle of an extra tax for operators in alcohol trouble spots.

It puts more pressure on the Government to take a hard line on the trade, coming as ministers consider plans to make the industry's voluntary codes mandatory. The report also pre-empts the release of the Government-commissioned study from Sheffield University into the link between alcohol price, promotions and harm, which could also back minimum pricing and other actions.

The new report, Policing in the 21st Century​, took evidence from dozens of police officers and forces on issues effecting modern policing. Officers highlighted how dealing with alcohol-related incidents takes up a lot of time.

For the on-trade, the report recommends the Home Office should work with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to ensure councils are "fully informed" about their licensing powers "to impose conditions forbidding drinks promotions".

It says the trade's voluntary standards codes "need to be reissued on a compulsory basis with a more effective inspection regime and penalties for breaches."

For shops and supermarkets, the report says: "The cheap availability of alcohol in the off-trade is fuelling alcohol-related crime and disorder and under-age drinking."

Citing a "lack of clarity about competition law", it recommends the Government "establish as soon as possible a legal basis for banning the use of loss-leading by supermarkets and setting a minimum price for the sale of alcohol". If necessary, a test case should be brought.

But it says there is "no evidence" that increasing the alcohol-buying age in shops to 21 will have an impact on underage drinking.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz MP said: "We cannot have on one hand a world of alcohol promotions for profit that fuels surges of crime and disorder, and on the other the police diverting all their resources to cope with it".

However, speaking on BBC Radio Newcastle this morning, Vaz said pubs are "victims" of cheap supermarket deals that lure people away from the on-trade.

Elsewhere, the MPs were "not convinced" full use is being made of powers to review licences and urges the Government to investigate councils' ability to refuse licences or add conditions.

Paul Smith, executive director of trade group Noctis, said existing licensing powers should be used "more rigorously" by authorities, rather than new powers being imposed.

Referring to an interview with the new Association of Chief Police Officers lead on licensing in the Morning Advertiser last week, Smith said: "It's certainly not what Simon O'Brien wants; he said we don't need more legislation."

Other issues

Alcohol Disorder Zones (ADZs): The report supports "the principle behind" ADZs, where operators in designated areas pay a levy for extra policing. But it shares concerns of a Lords committee that ADZs "may be overly-bureaucratic" and "remains unconvinced" they will have the desired effect.

The Licensing Act: There is "limited evidence" of the effect of the Act on alcohol-related offences. But it says police resources are deployed "for a longer period of time as a result of longer opening hours"

Pubwatch: The Government should "encourage greater participation in voluntary pubwatch schemes to facilitate partnership between licensees and the police".

Related topics Legislation

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