Pubs and clubs will be forced to tackle Britain's so-called “booze culture”
with bans on happy hours, discount drinks and extra-large glasses of wine
under government plans.
A report published yesterday by the Department of Health sets out tougher
regulations to curb excessive drinking amid evidence of alleged widespread
abuse of the voluntary code. Councils should have powers to ban periods when
drinks are sold cheaply, force supermarkets to stop selling alcohol next to
checkout tills and make bars sell drinks in non-breakable glass, the
consultation paper recommends.
The report could bring the end of bars without seating - “vertical drinking
establishments”. It calls for premises to offer smaller glasses of wine, and
for an end to the promotion of drinks with sexual references. Premises found
to be breaching the ban, which would be imposed by councils, could lose
their licences.
The report said that ten million adults in England regularly drink more than
government guidelines and that the cost to the NHS of alcohol misuse is more
than £2.7 billion a year.
It also claimed that alcohol misuse in England is costing £25 billion a year
in policing, lost work hours and so on, with 811,000 alcohol-related admiss-
ions to hospitals each year. The rise in admissions mirrors an increase in
alcohol consumption per head of 60 per cent between 1970 and 2006. Alcohol
is 69 per cent more affordable today than it was in 1980.
Previous figures suggested that there were 200,000 hospital admissions linked
to alcohol, based on liver disease, alcohol poisoning and mental and
behavioural disorders. However, taking into account cancer, heart disease
and alcohol-related accidents raises the figure to 6 per cent of all
admissions. The number of alcohol-related admissions is rising by 80,000 a
year, the Department of Health said.
The paper outlining tougher action was effectively an admission by the
Government that a ten-year policy of trying to get the alcohol industry to
police clubs and pubs voluntarily has failed. Dawn Primarolo, the Public
Health Minister, denied that further consultation with the industry was a
“limp response” to a highly critical report revealing widespread breaches of
a voluntary code of practice to promote sensible drinking. But she said it
was disappointing that the industry had failed to meet the terms of the
code. “The evidence from the review and hospital admissions data clearly
makes this the right time to consult on a far tougher approach to the
alcohol industry,” she added.
In a clear sign of the Government's intention to move to a mandatory code, the
consultation paper said that there was no strong evidence to suggest that
better self-regulation would have a significant impact in reducing
drink-related crime, harm to young people and health.
Two reviews published yesterday alleged that the alcohol industry is failing
to abide by voluntary agreements intended to curb abuses on licensed
premises and to provide the public with more information about the risks of
drinking.
A report by the auditors KPMG on how the voluntary code was operating said it
had found many irresponsible and harmful practices, including children under
18 being able to buy alcohol, promotion of drink through cheap offers,
inducements by disc jockeys to consume greater quantities of drink and
glamorisation through links with sexual imagery.
It said that the commercial imperative to get people into premises and to sell
them drink overrode adherence to a code of standards designed to promote
sensible drinking. “The standards are currently having negligible impact in
either reducing bad practice or promoting good practice,” it said.
A second study found that more than ten years after the industry and the
Government reached a deal on clearer labelling, only 57 per cent of products
contain details of the alcohol units in a drink. Only 3 per cent of products
contain all the information that ministers want to see, including a warning
to pregnant women to avoid alcohol.
The Government has given the industry until the end of the year to put the
warnings and advice on bottles and cans. If they fail to do so, mandatory
labelling will be introduced. Officials are dismayed that some companies
even put brand names in advice telling people to drink responsibly.
Jeremy Beadles, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said
that the move would result in higher prices for all responsible drinkers
without solving the problem of alcohol misuse. “Culture change will take
time but we should start by enforcing the numerous laws we have and build on
the education and information programmes acknowledged as successful by
Government,” he said.
Mark Hasting of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “Legislation is a
sledgehammer that will not crack the nut. We expect to be held to account
for those things we can control, but companies cannot and should not be held
to account for individual choices and behaviours that are beyond their
ability to control.”
How bars and clubs failed to measure up
“Avoid suggestion that drinking can enhance performance”
Specialist beers with sexual allusions, such as Rumpy Pumpy and Old Shag.
Cocktails such as “screaming orgasm” and “slippery nipple”.
DJs encouraging people to buy more drinks to create atmosphere of sexual
abandon, for instance in Swindon: “Who's getting drunk tonight? Who's
getting laid tonight?”How bars and clubs allegedly failed to measure up
“Avoid associations with violent, antisocial and illegal behaviour”
A national bar chain offered cocktails with the names Mad Mule, Bloody
Revolution and Polish Bullet. Various cocktails had names associated with
drugs including “liquid cocaine”.
“Avoid actions encouraging immoderate drinking”
Promotions such as two for one and bulk buying were common in shops. Frequent
flouting of the law against selling alcohol to intoxicated people in pubs
and clubs. In Newquay a drunk woman could not count out the right money to
pay for her alcopop without help. She drank half the bottle in one go,
retched, finished the rest and staggered off. In two venues, scantily
dressed women wearing holsters containing alcoholic drinks flirted with
drunk young men and encouraged them to “take a shot” for £2. In one North
Tyneside venue, drink was poured straight from the bottle into a customer's
mouth.
“Avoid promotions appealing to people under 18”
Off-licences with fridges dedicated to drinks that appeal to young people,
such as white cider, pre-mixed spirit drinks and bulk purchases such as
eight tins of lager for £5.
Case Studies
Gary Doyle would not normally tick the box of “binge drinker” but said
that he did not count the units when he went out on Friday and Saturday.
Mr Doyle, 25, from Moston, Greater Manchester, admitted to having sunk five or
six pints after 10pm the previous evening, but sees his drinking habits as
typical for a man of his age.
He is in favour of government regulation of alcohol but does not think that
banning happy hours would change much.
Douglas Howard, 66, who is retired, often has two or three cans of
bitter at home after dinner, which takes him above the recommended limit of
21 units a week.
“I drink but I'm not causing any problems,” he said. “As long as manufacturers
tell you how strong the drink is on the label, I think it should be left to
the individual.”
Shane Kelly, 25, a London City worker, is immersed in a culture where a
pint after work is seen as an extension of the office.
“Indirectly, you're encouraged to drink more. It's seen as improving your
chances of getting on,” he said.
He is not comfortable with government regulations. “We live in a free world. I
don't think people need to be protected from themselves - people should be
able to have fun.”
Russell Jenkins, Marcus Leroux
