PRICE rises of up to 75 per cent could be imposed on some wines, spirits and beers under Scottish Government plans to tackle the country's booze culture.
But many popular drinks, including alcopops and Buckfast tonic wine, that politicians have associated with antisocial behaviour, will be unaffected.
Wide-ranging proposals to overhaul alcohol laws include setting minimum prices for drink in sup
ermarkets and off-licences, and raising the minimum age at which they can be bought in them to 21. Although the plans were welcomed by health campaigners and police, lawyers told The Scotsman that the key proposal – to impose minimum prices based on alcohol units – could fall foul of competition legislation. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which investigates price fixing, said it was not yet known whether Holyrood ministers would be allowed to press ahead with that.
The proposals include allowing young people to buy drink in pubs at 18, but not from supermarkets or off-licences until they are 21; imposing a 35p minimum price per unit of alcohol; and banning some promotional offers.
But the drinks and retail industry claimed the "Draconian legislation" would penalise responsible drinkers and traders.
Among the policies to tackle binge drinking, which costs Scotland £2.25 billion a year in poor health and productivity, is a new social responsibility fee paid by some retailers to cover the price of policing and cleaning up. Offers such as three-for-two pricing would also be abolished and alcohol-only checkouts created in supermarkets.
Launching a consultation yesterday, Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, said: "Drinking in a pub while socialising is perfectly acceptable. Buying large carry-outs and drinking on the street is not."
He said the aim was to restrict consumption – not to stop people enjoying a drink.
He claimed that many off-sales premises were "already looking for" measures such as increasing the age to buy drink – and denied they were evidence of a "nanny state".
Mr MacAskill said the social responsibility fee was a way to give licensing boards "the power to recognise that alcohol is not cost free". "It has social, economic and health costs, which should not be met by the taxpayer but by those who profit," he said. He denied off-licences were being "targeted" but rather they were being asked to recognise that they had to be responsible retailers.
The plans were welcomed by the Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the BMA Scotland.
But Colin Miller, a partner in Biggart Baillie, said minimum pricing – which Nicola Sturgeon, the health secretary, said could be brought in by amending existing legislation or by enacting new laws – would contravene EU laws which prevent anti-competitive practices.
He said: "Introducing a restriction like this in terms of what retailers can charge would be contrary to the competition rules. The European Commission would come along and say you can't do this."
Catriona Munro, EU and competition law partner at Maclay Murray & Spens, also said there could be "issues" about distorting trade and a breach of EU law.
And David Goodbrand, competition partner at Burness said minimum price fixing could have legal implications by creating a two-tier system north and south of the Border. He said: "In the same way people used to do booze cruises to France, you can see there might be those who would wish to exploit that by purchasing down south."
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said the proposals would be within the competence of the Scottish Parliament and officials had already met the OFT.
But the OFT said it was not clear yet if the government would be free to press ahead.
The Scottish Tories pointed out that, while some alcohol would go up in price, Buckfast and alcopops would not be affected, either because they were already expensive or because they had a low alcohol content.
Andy Kerr, a former Labour health minister, has blamed Buckfast for fuelling violence and the then Scottish Executive sought to curb its sales, while former justice minister Cathy Jamieson claimed it was directly related to a rise in antisocial behaviour.
The Federation of Small Businesses Scotland said independent retailers could shut down under yesterday's proposals while the Scottish Grocers' Federation said elements of the plans were "absurd".
Fiona Moriarty, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said "Draconian legislation" would not solve Scotland's alcohol problem but would "penalise the overwhelming majority of customers who consume alcohol perfectly responsibly". She added: "Why shouldn't responsible Scottish customers be able to benefit from competitively priced products as other UK citizens can?"
'Following WHO advice … and not before time'
ANALYSIS: TOM WOOD
WORLD Health Organisation advice is absolutely clear: to bring about control of alcohol consumption we have to address the price so it is fair and balanced, address the availability and then address the service provision and enforcement of the law.
What the Scottish Government is doing is not before time.
We have been too long blind to the horrendous damage alcohol is doing to us, and as young drinkers develop these habits, so the consequences become more exacerbated.
Sometimes alcoholic drinks are cheaper than water. That is nonsense. Alcohol is a special commodity. We have to treat it with care. The price has to reflect that – it is a crucially important part of the recipe for success.
Price has to be controlled carefully because if you go up too much, you can end up with a situation like in Norway where alcohol is very expensive and people end up making their own or turning medical alcohol into drinks.
The reality as regards very young drinkers is we have been too fixated by pubs when the truth is the issue lies with the off-sales and supermarkets. We have to do something about price. Offers like three-for-two are positively dangerous because they encourage people to drink more.
I agree with changing the age limit at which you can buy alcohol to 21. Some 18-19-year-olds might slip through, but we would not get very young people buying alcohol.
Alcohol-only checkouts are common sense because they recognise alcohol to be special. It's not like bread and milk, and should not be sold as such. Also, this would make it easier to check who is buying it.
It is a symbolic move but it is also a very practical suggestion.
We have a long, long way to catch up in funding, because for 25-30 years alcohol services have been neglected. What is important is the upstream investment and early intervention because that's where you stand to produce best results.
Price, availability and provision of service – the government is following the WHO advice. I take my hat off to the government for addressing it because for too long they have shied away.
Overall, I wholeheartedly support the government's approach on alcohol and I'm really glad we have finally woken up to the dangers of alcohol because it's become seriously out of balance.
• Tom Wood is former chairman of the Alcohol and Drug Action Team in Edinburgh and former Deputy Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police
Community enjoys benefits of pilot plan
Lindsay McIntosh
UNDERAGE drinking, and the anti-social behaviour that came with it, was no worse in Armadale than in any other Scottish community.
But Lothian and Borders Police decided the West Lothian village was as good a place as any to introduce a new weapon in the battle against booze.
Community officer Phillip McIntosh came up with a plan to restrict sales to over 21s on weekend nights – a scheme which had been successful in Cleveland.
The force won the backing of the local off-licences and the project ran for six weeks, operating between 5pm and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
Mr McIntosh said stores were happy to sign up because it helped them ensure they were not selling to youngsters. It also reduced the likelihood that the front of their stores would be blighted by drunk teenagers, who might discourage evening shoppers.
The pilot scheme has been hailed as a success – although some teenagers have claimed it was still easy for them to access alcohol, either from home or friends.
Mr McIntosh said: "In the first two weeks we saw a decrease in the number of calls complaining about youths accessing alcohol.
"Vandalism was reduced. That pattern continued throughout the six weeks."
The scheme was implemented without extra police on the beat. Shopkeepers were given an emergency out-of-hours number but it was never used to report trouble.
Figures released ahead of the official end of the scheme showed there were 108 phone calls about youths in the previous two months, compared to 220 for the same period last year.
Telephoned reports of vandalism also dropped from 57 to 27, while assaults halved from 12 to six.
In the neighbouring villages of Blackridge and Westfield similar results were found, with calls down from 54 to 24 and from 14 to zero respectively
Mr McIntosh said that since the scheme ended there had been a corresponding increase in complaints.
The pilot is now being considered by the Scottish Government as a model to be rolled out across the country.
Superintendent Chris Griffiths of Lothian and Borders Police said: "The success of the scheme is dependent on the licensees buying in. However, I personally would urge a town that if they do have one business that does not want to go in, to carry on anyway."
FACT BOX
The key proposals include:
• Raising the minimum age for off-sales alcohol purchases to 21;
• Setting a minimum price at which a unit of alcohol can be sold;
• Ending "three for the price of two"-style promotions, which the government says encourages impulse buying of extra alcohol;
• A "social responsibility fee" for some alcohol retailers to help pay for the consequences of alcohol misuse and reduce the burden on the general taxpayer;
• Introducing alcohol-only checkouts in large off-sales premises, so that alcohol, like cigarettes, is thought of as a special case and not "just another product";
• Confirmation of a record £85 million increase in alcohol prevention, treatment and support services, bringing total spend to £120 million over the next three years
The full article contains 1723 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
