Police back Manchester authorities' minimum alcohol price plans

The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, Peter Fahy, has expressed his support for plans by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) to create a by-law forcing bars and retailers to charge at least 50p per unit of alcohol.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Fahy said: "We all suffer the impact of alcohol abuse - the impact on policing, the impact on the health service and the impact on things like anti-social behaviour. A minimum price would allow people to drink reasonable amounts but would particularly hit those who are buying huge amounts and would hopefully try to deal with the issue of supermarkets discounting and leading to lots of local pubs closing".

As reported recently by Local Government Lawyer (3rd August), the 10 local authorities in AGMA have commissioned a report into the possibility of passing a by-law that would set the minimum price at 50p per unit. This would see drinkers pay £4.50 for a standard bottle of wine, £6 for a six-pack of lager and £14 for a 700ml bottle of whisky. The report's findings will be presented at AGMA's meeting in October.

However, any imposition of a minimum price is likely to meet stiff resistance from drinks businesses and retailers, many of which argue that such a move would be illegal under EU competition law.

The plans have already attracted the support of the Prime Minister, who said last week that the government would look at AGMA's plans “very sympathetically” in order to stop town and city centres “resembling the wild west” due to drunken disorder.

Late last month (July), Middlesbrough Council also launched a consultation with the aim of imposing a minimum unit price for all alcoholic products sold under a premises licence.

The Home Office recently unveiled plans for the most radical shake-up of licensing law in years in a consultation paper. Its proposals include: giving licensing authorities the power to refuse licence applications or to call for a licence review without requiring relevant representations from a responsible authority; reducing the evidential burden of proof required by licensing authorities in making decisions; increasing the weight given to representations and objection notices from the police; and allowing local authorities to consider the views of the wider community, not just those living close to premises.