MyShout

As the clamour for blanket glass bans grows, Jon Collins believes pubs should embrace Best Bar None

For over a decade now the Bar Entertainment & Dance Association (Beda) has led the campaign to prevent the introduction of blanket restrictions on the serving of drinks in glass in licensed premises.

This is an issue that never goes away so, once again, we see the pressure building on pub, club and bar operators to remove glass from their venues - typically on the back of a single, very regrettable incident in an area. Graphic images of a young face scarred by a glass attack are placed on the front of the local newspaper, while inside an impassioned but ill-informed leader cries out that something must be done.

Politicians respond with a call for all premises in the area to become glass-free, letters are written, petitions signed and emotions run very high. Pretty soon even the most responsible operators are made to feel callous for placing commercial need above safety.

And so we find that good operators, with no evidence that there is a heightened risk of disorder in their premises, are being pressured to take a step that would not actually tackle the root problem (some venues are just not properly managed) but would:

l reduce customer choice (while many of the bigger brands are available in plastic most regional ales and world beers are not)

l worsen the customer experience (no more lazily enjoying a pint bottle of cider poured over ice)

l create flashpoints in the premises (decanting into plastic pots slows service, meaning more jostling at the bar, and makes bumps and spills more likely).

Nobody wants to see people attacked in our pubs, clubs and bars, but the answer is not a blanket ban on glass. The answer is to manage risk by ensuring all premises meet the operating standards already present in the majority of venues today.

That means embracing Best Bar None, encouraging operators to review and put in place policies on door admission, glass collection, under-age sales, serving drunks and so forth. For most food-led premises and rural pubs that is likely to mean only using plastic for the occasional barbecue. For city-centre pubs, bars and clubs it could well mean switching to plastic for certain trading sessions when the venues are at capacity.

And most operators would be happy to do that, but to suggest they switch when their bar is barely half full on a wet Tuesday night is illogical.

The Licensing Act 2003 clearly states that licence conditions must be tailored to the size, nature, location and offering at the premises - that clearly mitigates against a blanket restriction on glass, but leaves the way clear to impose a ban on problem premises.

And industry would support just such an approach - self regulation for the responsible majority of venues, restrictive conditions on the irresponsible minority. Not being able to serve Bulmers, Budweiser or Smirnoff Ice the way the customer wants it, would put real pressure on an operator to raise his game.