Looking ahead

The Department of Health is working with The Portman Group in a bid to tackle the UK's current binge-drinking issues. Daniel Pearce reports.

Licensees looking beyond the fog of the smoking ban in the White Paper on Public Health would have found something else to interest them. Tucked in alongside the ban and action on obesity was a further commitment from the government to get tough on binge-drinking - the phenomenon the tabloids would have us all believe is sweeping Britain.

The Department of Health (DoH) has agreed to:

• Work in partnership with The Portman Group to develop a new information campaign
• Work with the industry to develop a voluntary social responsibility scheme for producers and retailers to place more information in pubs and off-licences, and on bottles and cans
• Prompt the industry to include more reminders about responsible drinking on alcohol advertisements
• Push pubs and off-licences to check for ID more often.

For pubs, the voluntary commitments - and note that word voluntary - are nothing new, but a further strengthening of a policy already laid out in the National Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy earlier this year.

The DoH's pledge to work with The Portman Group was news to the drinks watchdog's chief executive Jean Coussins (pictured)​. She hopes that the partnership means the group is about to get some extra funding to enable it to fully tackle binge-drinking head on.

"It was a pleasant surprise to see that the DoH wanted to work with us so closely. We've been saying for a long time that the government needs to offer us resources so we can extend the reach of the campaign," says Jean.

"Until now we haven't been able to pick up the tab for a TV advertising campaign, which is likely to be extremely effective. We hope that is the first thing it will agree to help us do."

Growing campaigns​

A beefed up Portman Group will also have more resources to work with pubs. Its most visible activity in recent years has been the "I'll Be Des" campaign for groups of drinkers to nominate one designated driver at the beginning of an evening.

The campaign has found terrific success, with more than 20,000 of its pre-Christmas campaign packs having been mailed out already this year.

Also growing fast is the group's "If You Do Do Drink, Don't Do Drunk" campaign to tackle binge-drinking, and it is this initiative the group would like to see expanded following the publication of the white paper. Updated support material - including posters and beer mats - will be going out to the trade early in 2005, although it will be up to pubs to request it.

"There's been a massive step forward from producers on the drink responsibly message - now there's a need for retailers to come through as well," says Jean. "We know they can do it as the on-trade take-up of I'll Be Des was absolutely superb."

The group also wants pubs to look at their own ways of offering customers more information about alcohol, such as putting alcohol by volume (ABV) figures on price lists.

The best ways of incorporating the "drink responsibly" message at the point of sale are now being discussed with a number of pub companies.

In addition, pubs may soon get the chance to host a visit from a Portman Group-backed "Pub Theatre" company, which can put on an impromptu show in the bar to highlight some of the issues of binge-drinking. The initiative, spreading the message that if there are fewer drunks, there will be more customers, was successfully piloted in a number of venues last year.

Pricing issues​

The Portman Group is unable to advise on pricing, although Jean does confess to a touch of frustration at current hysteria, and particularly the Department of Trade & Industry ruling that minimum pricing schemes are illegal.

"There appears to be a conflict between competition law and the desire to be socially responsible," she comments.

"Meanwhile, everyone is bashing the industry for selling at too high prices, or selling at too low prices. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't."

Where it can help, however, is with the DoH's attempt to ramp up the pressure on under-age sales. Jean praises the majority of pubs for trading responsibly, but claims there are "startling gaps", in areas such as asking for proof of age, which were shown up in this summer's Home Office Enforcement Campaign.

"I can't understand why all pubs don't use The Portman Group's proof-of-age scheme. The more they ask for ID, the more young people will come to expect it," she says.

Jean is unimpressed with complaints from licensees that proof-of-age cards can be too easily forged. "A few years ago there were some good forgeries around, but the PASS hologram which appears on these cards is virtually forge-proof. There is absolutely no excuse," says Jean.

It is up to pubs to grab back the initiative on binge-drinking, by taking advantage of the advice and support material from The Portman Group. And if they don't do it voluntarily, says Jean, sooner or later they may be forced to.

"The alcohol harm strategy was right to say there's no case for fresh legislation to force the industry to do something," she points out. "This is a chance for the industry to show it can sort itself out on a voluntary basis."

• For more details on The Portman Group's campaigns ring 020 7907 3700 or visit www.portman-group.org.uk

What's in a name?​

Claims that The Portman Group is losing its influence following two recent challenges to its authority have been dismissed by Jean Coussins.

Roxxoff, an RTD brand which fell foul of the group's code of conduct last year for claiming to be an alcoholic aphrodisiac, has resurfaced again, while Charles Wells has complained about a ruling against its Muse Sex on the Beach drink.

Jean claims BarFunked, the new UK distributor for Roxxoff, has indicated that the name of the drink is likely to be changed to Roxx after it was made aware of the brand's history.

"The last we heard was that they were planning to change it," says Jean. "Let's hope they get it right this time - the purpose of the code is not to stop alcoholic drinks coming onto the market."

Charles Wells was unhappy after the group's complaints panel ruled against its Muse Sex on the Beach drink - and then noticed it was promoting a soft drink Safe Sex on the Beach cocktail in its own literature.

Jean points out that the code of conduct is looking for links between sexual success and alcohol - not soft drinks. "It's a spoof non-alcoholic cocktail. It's got nothing to do with the code," she says.

"What all this shows is that the code has proved itself extremely robust."