LETTERs

Black hole of Smartbox fees

Unfortunately we, Big Spark Limited, are one of the major creditors for Smartbox, and published the successful Box newspaper for them.

I have a concern: as far as I know, there were in excess of 500 pubs signed up to Smartbox, all paying approximately £6,000 (MA, Smartbox settlement offer is a joke, 21/12/06 p2) for a leasing agreement on the equipment.

Correct me if I am wrong, but once this was signed, Smartbox or an associated A N Other company would have received from the finance company an agreed sum of money.

If that money amounted to £6,000, and in excess of 500 pubs bought leases, where has the £3m gone? I see no revenues received to that or a similar amount in the figures presented by the liquidators Butcher Woods. Strange or what?

Stuart Parker

MD, Big Spark Limited

Hazy smoking ban guideline

s

Is it me, or is everyone else confused about the release of the smoking ban guidelines?

From the little I've seen so far, they generally don't differ from the draft guidelines we saw many moons ago, plus they appear to be incomplete - not offering us any indication of the fines we'll expect to see.

In fact, all we are given is some waffle about what constitutes an outdoor area.

I'm surprised that only Nick Bish has attacked these unclear guidelines (MA 21/12/06, p1, Smoke ban regs at last) as there will be various bodies involved in incorporating them and policing them come 1 July.

Small establishments are going to struggle enough to get a suitable area for smokers - these guidelines can't magic up an enclosed, sheltered, safe outdoor area where none exist.

Chris Hardman

Brighton

Supermarket prices a risk

If you can buy 24 x 440ml cans of Fosters for £9.98, this will cause a problem as it is close to 50p a pint, £2 cheaper than in the pubs. As responsible publicans, we can monitor what people drink in our pubs and assist in curbing binge drinking, but surely this cheap drink is a health issue as it cannot be monitored once purchased and for £10 you could easily binge drink at home or be topped up before you enter the pub.

Nigel Maud

The New Inn

Hereford

What is your definition of food?

Just read your article on the Blackpool Council clampdown on al fresco drinking without food (MA, Blackpool Council bans al fresco drink, 21/12/06, p6). Very interesting. What is the definition of food?

In my neck of the woods, West Sussex, ice cubes are classed as 'food'. My ice machine falls under inspections carried out by the local Environmental Health Officer, at the same time as kitchen inspections. No problems.

Thus an al fresco drink, with ice cubes, would qualify as 'a drink with food', and so would comply with Blackpool's Council requirements.

Does this help assuage Blackpool licensees' concerns?

Peter Comber

Langley Comber Limited

Steyning

West Sussex

Are you qualified to comment?

As Chair of the Confederation of Professional Licensees I read with interest your article 'Who Needs Training and Qualifications?' (MA 30 November 2006).

In this article you assert that personal licence holders have not all passed "the same high-standard examination" and you urge licensees to "take care in selecting their qualification."

As you know, there are three versions of the National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) qualification currently accredited by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) at Level 2 in the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

Education Development International (EDI) has developed the Goal NCPLH with our assistance, and literally thousands of candidates have sat this qualification with us.

Only your version of the NCPLH examination has a 'must pass' question section, the two other QCA accredited examinations

do not.

On this basis you say that yours is the 'high quality' qualification, and the others by implication are of inferior quality.

It is totally unacceptable that you, on behalf of BIIAB, defame other qualifications in this way.

All three NCPLH qualifications have been accredited by QCA, whose function it is to ensure that qualifications called by the same name and lodged at the same level in the

NQF, are all of the highest quality.

Paul Chase

Chair of the Confederation of Professional Licensees