Code to cost pubs up to £246 each
Current plans to force pubs to abide by a mandatory alcohol retailing code are set to cost far less than originally expected.
It would cost each pub up to £246 per year to stick to the compulsory conditions, which include banning irresponsible drinks promotions and having to offer drinks in smaller measures.
Very few pubs — those that don't currently abide by any of the proposals in the mandatory code — would pay the full amount.
Under previous drafts of the code, the cost was put at £1,100 per community pub.
The current plan is expected to cost less because compulsory staff training — to cost between £356 and £1,424 per year — has been removed from the final public consultation, which was released this week.
The Government wants to force pubs to abide by strict rules on how they serve alcohol and run their business. It's in response to concerns, disputed by the trade, that voluntary codes aren't being applied widely enough.
A cost impact assessment, released alongside the latest consultation, says abiding by the mandatory code would cost £28.8m for the first year and £1.97m per year after that, across all on and off-trade premises.
If council-imposed conditions are included, the figure is £31.7m in year one and £34.4m each year after that. An earlier draft put the total cost at £161m per year.
Assuming a venue doesn't currently comply with any of the mandatory conditions, the cost would be £246, based on extra equipment plus staff and training cost.
The figure is broken down as: £60 for restricting drinks promotions, £40 for buying 125ml wine glasses, £97 for new spirit dispense units, £13 for free tap and £36 for providing unit content information.
For each subsequent year, the extra cost would be £28 — £15 for restricting drinks deals and £13 for offering free tap water.
Not all pubs would have to pay these costs. The Government estimates that 16,310 pubs and clubs face the costs for stopping irresponsible drinks deals, for example.
The Government is also consulting on a second tier of conditions that councils could impose on two or more venues in hotspots.
These would prove much more costly for pubs. For example, the condition requiring all customers to be searched for drugs and weapons is estimated to cost £5,910 per year in man-hours and signage costs.
Trade groups argue that the mandatory code is unnecessary, especially at a time when pubs are struggling.
British Beer and Pub Association director of communications Mark Hastings said: "It's remarkable how quickly and comprehensively Government can package a disproportionate set of measures into a code that will cost a strugguling pub sector tens of millions of pounds, and how slow they are to come up with a code to bring to an end their own profligate spending of taxpayers money."
