Scotland could set pricing

Local authorities in Scotland could be allowed to set minimum pricing under new legislation.

Licensing boards may also be given the power to close pubs in "saturated" areas under the forthcoming Licensing Bill that is set to go before the Scottish Parliament later this month.

Tavish Scott, the Scottish Executive's Deputy Finance & Public Health Minister, has said that Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) are planning to include a clause in the bill that will permit local authorities to insist on minimum pricing.

This follows the landmark ruling in November that licensing boards do not have the power to impose minimum pricing agreements, following a joint legal challenge by pubcos Mitchells & Butlers and Spirit Group, who successfully argued that this was anti-competitive.

Scott told Scotland on Sunday: "Some boards have tried a mechanism for minimum prices for drinks and Glasgow has gone for a standard price over a set period of time, so there are options there."

The newspaper also reported that Scott promised that under the new laws, pubs that caused persistent problems could see their licences revoked if licensing boards or the police simply believed there were too many venues in an area.

This would go further than the saturation policy in the 2003 Licensing Act for England and Wales, which allows councilsto refuse new applications ifthey can prove that more pubs or clubs in an area will increase disorder.

Morning Advertiser legal editor Peter Coulson said: "The idea of culling pubs was unacceptable in England and I would have thought the Scots would kick up a fuss if this were proposed north of the border."

l Coulson's column, p15