Pub giants press for answers on alcohol minimum pricing

Published on Monday 3 May 2010 21:06

THE heads of three major pub groups have urged the Scottish Government to provide a "level playing field" on alcohol retailing amid the debate on minimum pricing.

• Supermarkets should have the same social responsibilities to drinkers as pubs, says the group. Picture: PA

Mitchells & Butlers (M&B), the Glasgow-based G1 Group run by Stefan King, and Punch Taverns, who together represent 10 per cent of the Scottish market, said they want to see supermarkets assume the same "social responsibilities" as pubs, and match standards being set on reducing irresponsible promotions.

Adam Fowle, chief executive of M&B, which runs 2,000 pubs across the UK, including the All Bar One chain and the Horse Shoe in Drury Street, Glasgow, said that while minimum pricing for alcohol would reduce consumption levels, it should be considered as part of a package of measures to prevent irresponsible pricing and promotions, particularly in supermarkets.

"Government policy and supermarket 'binge prices' have been driving the consumption of alcohol away from the supervised environment of the pub such that today 70 per cent of all alcohol is purchased in supermarkets.

"We are therefore urging policy-makers to implement as quickly as possible measures to raise supermarkets to the higher standards of social responsibility in alcohol retailing which are already, rightly, expected of pubs, for the benefit of both the Scottish economy and society."

He added that social responsibilities demanded of pubs encompass not only the sale, but also the supervision, of alcohol consumption.

Last week the Scottish Government was pressed to reveal the figure for the minimum price for alcohol it plans to introduce to tackle the nation's drink problem.

The price is seen as being critical to the success of the policy – too low and it will be ineffective in preventing harmful drinking, too high and it will damage Scotland's drinks industry.

Scottish Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives all oppose the policy, and at least one party must be won over for the SNP's plan to become law. Each has concerns about how effective minimum pricing would be in reducing drinking levels and whether it would be legal under EU law.

The Scottish Government has commissioned a study into how minimum prices ranging from 25p to 70p per unit would affect mortality, health, crime and the economy. The most likely price is thought to be 40p, but the government has been reluctant to commit itself to a figure yet.