Shocking figures that reveal one in five 15-year-olds in Scotland is buying alcohol in pubs have led to trade calls for a national identity card.
A new survey suggests that more young people are buying drinks illegally in pubs and nightclubs than members of the trade think.
In the survey of 4,300 15-year-olds, 24 per cent claimed they purchased alcohol in pubs while 21 per cent claimed they were able to buy it in nightclubs. Just under half said they had been drunk in the last year.
The new research was carried out for the Nicholson Committee, the special group set up by the Scottish Executive to look at licensing laws. It has been released at the same time as a special survey of the public by the committee called Testing Public Opinion on Licensing Law and Alcohol Consumption. The survey showed that more than nine out of 10 people in Scotland believe that the country has a problem with underage drinking.
The new research is likely to push underage drinking higher on the agenda in Scotland and has led to trade leaders across the UK speaking out in favour of a national identity card. The trade believes that a regulated national identity card will be more effective at controlling underage drinking than the PASS scheme which is now being phased in. It requires proof-of age cards to display a holographic logo which cannot be copied by fraudsters.
Paul Waterson of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association thinks the figures may be exaggerated. He said: "I still think that a lot of 15 and 16-year-olds like to say they are going to pubs. But we do need a national identity card to help us stamp out underage drinking."
Tony Payne of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers' Associations agreed. He said: "One in five seems very high. A lot of it may be bravado but an identity card will help all licensees in checking the age of children and underage drinkers."
Public opinion
Happy hours and cut-price promotions have received a thumbs-up from the public in Scotland.
The public survey called Testing Public Opinion on Licensing Law and Alcohol Consumption showed that only one per cent of people thought that curbing promotions was a good way of controlling drunken behaviour.
Only eight per cent thought that cutting the number of liquor licences in Scotland would help while 27 per cent believed that more police needed to be on the streets.