Mixed messages on underage sales issue
It is pleasing to discover that LACORS, the local government regulatory service, is issuing a fresh code of conduct to local authorities that are conducting test-purchase operations for underage sales.
However, I still have considerable problems with the mixed messages that I highlighted two weeks ago on this page. It seems that licensees using their "best endeavours" is not enough. The sale of alcohol to someone under 18 is now seen as an "absolute offence" which could result eventually in the loss of the premises' licence.
It is the Home Office that appears to be making the fixed link between underage drinking and antisocial behaviour, thus tainting the licensed trade by association. In other words, sales of alcohol to youngsters equals encouraging crime and disorder. We must campaign to obliterate this evil entirely.
How convenient is a short memory! I have seen countless politicians and celebrities on television and in the printed media describing their early relationships with alcohol in less than flattering terms, but with a hint of pride or bravado. As I recall, most of these experiences pre-dated their 18th birthday, but presumably they are relying on the Statute of Limitations to prevent them from getting a ticket!
Given the statistics, however, it has to be true that the vast majority of those who actually taste alcohol before the age of 18 do not go on to commit crime or vandalism.
As I have said before, it is a rite of passage, possibly made a lot more exciting by the clear knowledge that it is actually illegal (go into any sixth-form common room in the country and find someone who does not know the legal age for buying a drink in a pub).
But if the Government thinks that drinking alcohol by those under 18 is actually wrong and socially unacceptable, why does it not issue a complete ban? Why is it legal for youngsters to drink alcohol anywhere except in pub or club premises?
Technically, the minimum age is five. It is illegal to give a child under that age any intoxicating drink; but even then there are exceptions for emergencies. So in the home, children of more or less any age may drink alcohol without fear of the law. It is left entirely to the discretion of their parents.
No-one to my knowledge in the licensed trade is suggesting that it is acceptable or appropriate to sell alcohol to 14-year-olds, for example. So test purchasing to discover retailers who are completely turning a blind eye to age restrictions is necessary and welcome, to prevent real damage to young people.
But the occasional inadvertent sale to a 16 or 17-year-old is in a different category. Bearing in mind that the consumption of alcohol with a meal by those between 16 and 18 is not in itself illegal in a pub, as anyone who has taken the new Personal Licensee examination knows, we are left with the extraordinary situation that it is only food that stops both the adult purchaser and the young drinker from committing criminal offences, and the licensee from potentially losing his or her livelihood.
I have heard some anti-pub campaigners, even in local authorities, suggest that one conviction should result in the loss of a licence.
Faced with that sort of gung-ho pressure, it is not surprising that the licensed trade is attempting to toe the line until the dust settles and a more reasonable approach starts to return to the issue.
l Peter Coulson will be answering questions about the new licensing laws at the BII East Midlands Region event on 25 April at the Galleries of Justice in Nottingham. Tickets cost just £15.00, including lunch. To book, go to www.bii.org and click on the events section or call Becky Went on 01276 417874.
