MyShout

With so many age-related schemes, having a united front is not easy, says Stephen Crawley

Just when there seemed some progress in the industry combining efforts and presenting a united front to Government to demonstrate that we can work together to prevent underage people having access to alcohol, along comes yet another initiative - Challenge 25.

Do we really need further dilution and distraction when we seem to have managed to put a universal scheme in place that appears to be working, namely Challenge 21?

It is absolutely right that we continue to challenge, and the message to young people is loud and clear that unless you have a valid form of proof of age you will not be served. But as we keep pushing the age-limit upwards, are we not in danger of inadvertently suggesting that 18 years is an unacceptable age at which to be purchasing alcohol?

We know there is still work to do to ensure that alcohol is not sold or served to minors - this is an on-going education, training and information requirement, which is being addressed by organisations such as the Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) and more recently via the BII's latest education programme that is being trialled in schools across the country. Surely these should be expanded rather than introduce another scheme - even if it is only a trial.

From the retailer's perspective the introduction of an increasing number of initiatives leads to confusion. In an industry with a high staff turnover, there is an ever-mounting burden of cost involved in keeping up with the latest trends. I suspect that responsible retailers know that their bar or shop staff are liable to an £80 on-the-spot fine. While the repercussions of selling to an underage person could lose them their personal licence and/or jeopardise their premises licence they are unlikely not to challenge anybody who does not look 21 or over.

But imagine the extra workload involved for bar and shop staff in having to ask for ID from people who look under 25. According to a British Beer & Pub Association survey in May more than a million people a month are being turned away from pubs for being underage or failing to have the right proof. On the basis that a lot of people were either not asked or were able to provide proof of age, my back-of-the-beer-mat calculation suggests that 3 million people were actually challenged. Double that to cover the off-trade and you're talking about a lot of time spent checking.

Not to mention possible disgruntled customers - while the actual legal age of purchasing alcohol is 18, would you not be slightly miffed to be asked constantly at the age of 25? While carrying identification is becoming the norm, let's keep some perspective.

Don't misunderstand me - I firmly believe that we must stand together as an industry against underage drinking - and we are making some serious headway. But is challenging people seven years older than the legal age the right way to go about it? Government bangs on about the need for young people to show respect - so isn't it about time we showed them some?