Home Office to tighten law on drinks promotions, shelves minimum pricing

Measures to make mandatory conditions relating to drinks promotions more effective will be introduced but plans for a minimum unit price have been parked, the Government has said in its formal response to the Alcohol Strategy consultation.

The reforms will include a ban on sales of alcohol below the level of duty plus VAT, to be introduced in England and Wales no later than spring 2014.

In a written ministerial statement, Crime Prevention Minister Jeremy Browne said this would mean it would no longer be legal to sell a can of ordinary strength lager for less than about 40 pence.

In a Next steps document, the Home Office said it would simplify and tighten the law on what constitutes an irresponsible promotion, by:

• Making all the existing listed promotions irresponsible in all circumstances, removing the need for judgment by business or those enforcing the condition. “This reduces the risk that the condition is applied inconsistently.”
• Removing the exemption for table meals that currently applies to the ban on offering unlimited or unspecified quantities of alcohol for free or for a fixed fee.
• Requring businesses to ensure that irresponsible promotions do not occur, rather than taking ‘all reasonable steps’.
• Removing the specific reference in the condition to the ban on the provision of free or discounted alcohol in connection with a ‘sporting event’. “This type of irresponsible promotion is already covered by the ban on the provision of unlimited or unspecified alcohol for free or for a fixed or discounted fee.”
• Incorporating the separate condition banning the dispensing of alcohol by one person in to the mouth of another into the irresponsible promotion condition. “Before the ban, this frequently took place as part of a promotion.”

On-trade premises will meanwhile be required to list the price of small measures, which they must already offer, on menus or price lists alongside the price of other serving sizes. “If a customer does not specify a measure, there will also be a requirement to make them explicitly aware of those that are available.”

The Home Office said it would also clarify that the water that all on-trade premises such as pubs and clubs must offer their customers is drinkable.

Age verification requirements are also to be improved, “making it clear that responsibility lies with the designated premises supervisor, already responsible for the day-to-day management of the premises, for implementing the age verification policy”.

There will be a broadening of the definition of identification documents which can be used to prove age to include those bearing ultra-violet fluorescent ink.

“Some foreign passports and identity cards do not bear the holographic mark currently required to be valid as identification for the purchase of alcohol. This will mean that more visitors to England and Wales can be confident of proving their age.”

The Home Office meanwhile promised to identify high harm local alcohol action areas and “work with them to strengthen local partnerships; improve enforcement; and increase good practice of what works locally – including how areas can make the most of available health data as part of local decision making”.

Deregulatory measures that the Next steps document said would be progressed include:

• Making it quicker and easier for community groups and those wanting to sell small amounts of alcohol as part of a wider service to do so via a Community and Ancillary Sellers Notice.
• Increasing the annual limit for the number of Temporary Event Notices that can apply to a particular premises from 12 to 15;
• Freeing up businesses that provide late night refreshment by removing the requirement to have a licence where there is no need for one;
• Abolishing the requirement to renew personal licences every ten years;
• A consultation on whether to abolish personal licences altogether.

The Home Office has decided against pursuing other proposals, such as removal of the requirement for licensing applications to be published in local newspapers.

On the introduction of minimum unit pricing, Browne said this “will remain a policy under consideration but will not be taken forward at this time”.

The minister added: “We do not yet have enough concrete evidence that its introduction would be effective in reducing harms associated with problem drinking, without penalising people who drink responsibly.”

Legal developments and implementation of the policy in Scotland are to be monitored carefully, the Home Office said.

It also said a proposed ban on multi-buy promotions would not be introduced as there was no convincing evidence it would have a significant effect in reducing consumption.

Browne said: “The measures…. build on action we have already taken, including introducing early morning restriction orders to curb alcohol sales, a late night levy to ensure those selling alcohol help pay towards the costs of policing and making it easier for local authorities to tackle problematic licensed premises.”

The Local Government Association said it was disappointing that the Government had made no reference to a health objective in the Licensing Act.

Cllr Mehboob Khan, chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: “Councils have long called for a wide-ranging approach which includes price measures, licensing reforms, better education and for councils to have the flexibility to address the root causes of the problem at a local level.

“So it is disappointing that the Government makes no reference to a health objective in the Licensing Act. Councils are keen to deliver their new public health responsibilities and consider health issues when granting alcohol licences. We urge swift action to introduce it.”

Cllr Khan added: “We support the Government’s call for industry to show what it can do to tackle alcohol harm, following examples elsewhere in the country where retailers have voluntarily removed high-strength products from their shelves, but the pace is too slow and support too patchy.

"And if government is serious about strengthening councils’ ability to tackle problem premises, it must now act quickly on its commitment to the local setting of licensing fees so that the taxpayer is no longer subsidising the alcohol industry."