Scottish councils urged to pursue minimum price through bylaws

Scottish licensing boards should follow the lead set by Manchester and strive to bring in local minimum pricing using bylaws, a trade chief has argued.

The comments, by Paul Waterson, come at the same time as a bid by Dundee to launch its own price controlling regime, in defiance of political opposition to minimum pricing.

Waterson, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association's chief executive, said: "I know doing it by individual areas is problematic, but it's really our last resort.

"A test case in Glasgow will show how much power boards have under the new Licensing Act, conceivably putting them in a much stronger position than before.

"The supermarkets are never going to back down and the problem is only going to get worse, so we must find a way forward."

Previous bids to bring in minimum pricing by Perth and Kinross, Aberdeen and Dundee foundered after a court challenge.

But the wider powers available to boards under the 2005 Act are reckoned to make a fresh attempt possible.

Dundee board convener Councillor Rod Wallace, a Conservative, said the situation was "above politics".

"The opposition parties at Holyrood (including the Tories) were against minimum pricing purely on political grounds and have stuck two fingers up at the whole argument - and nothing is happening while the situation deteriorates.

"We know there may be legal obstacles, and we are analysing these, but I'm determined to take the local byelaw idea forward, as in Manchester, and I'm certain other boards will follow."

Paul Ratcliffe, policy spokesman for the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA), said a report next month would clear the way for a potential byelaw in each of the area's 10 council areas.

He said the overriding consideration was health, since "there's a proven link between the price of alcohol and the rate of consumption."