Pub trade needs to try harder, says Home Office

The pub industry has been accused of failing to regulate itself following this summer's blitz on alcohol sales. Pub and bar chains found consistently selling to underage people have been ordered to explain themselves to home secretary David Blunkett.

And he has also asked the Sentencing Guidelines Council to check fines are being properly used against pubs and shops prosecuted for selling alcohol irresponsibly.

Four per cent of pubs, bars and shops visited were found to have committed an offence during the two-month blitz, while 51 per cent of targeted pubs visited were found to be selling to children.

Similar exercises are now being promised in the near future.

"I am determined to tackle the irresponsible and illegal sale of alcohol during this campaign," said Mr Blunkett.

"I recognise that good work is being done by many in the industry to combat this, but there is no point for policies to be in place to deal with the sale of alcohol to minors if they are not implemented."

Culture secretary Tessa Jowell said: "The home secretary and I are determined to root out those pubs, bars, and shops which are selling alcohol illegally to children."

Stephen Green, the Association of Chief Police Officers' spokesman on the campaign, said police had been "horrified" by what they had found.

"If the real picture of the drinks industry is that only four per cent are breaking the law, that is a big number," he said. "We will not be the fall guys for the drinks industry."

Christine Milburn, communications manager at the British Beer & Pub Association, said: "Ninety-six per cent of pubs were found to be taking their responsibilities seriously. This was a very strong sample, sending out a very clear message that the vast majority of the pub industry is law-abiding."

The two-month campaign, which took place in 90 towns and cities across England and Wales, saw police officers, trading standards officers and fire officers checking pubs were keeping to regulations such as capacity levels and selling to over-18s only.

Summer crackdown: the facts​

• 23,570 on-trade premises across England and Wales were visited as part of the crackdown. Four per cent of all premises visited were found to have committed an offence
• 1,825 sting operations were carried out on targeted pubs, clubs and shops. More than half (51 per cent) of the on-trade premises visited were found to have sold to children.

See The Publican September 27 for a full analysis of the figures.

Related articles:​

Home Office to publish results of enforcement campaign (14 September 2004)

Government's alcohol blitz comes to an end (2 September 2004)

Pubs pass Home Office test (5 August 2004)

239 licensed premises found guilty in clampdown (29 July 2004)

Government's alcohol clampdown continues (22 July 2004)

First week of police clampdown hailed a success (15 July 2004)

Town centre blitz starts today (8 July 2004)

Government launches enforcement initiative (28 June 2004)