LETTERs

Supermarket smoke screen

Re: "Scrap cheap deals - now" (MA, 28 February 2008), Asda and the other supermarkets need to go much further.

For starters, they need to look at the prices they are charging and not encourage cheap alcohol to be sold that will be passed on to under-18s to consume.

Asda's Smart Price lager, 4x440ml, is 88p. That equates to 1.76l or 3.1 pints, which means 28p a pint. Of that 4p is VAT and 24p is duty, which means a clear loss leader.

If they started selling their alcohol at a price that did not encourage people to buy and drink it in an uncontrolled environment, then maybe some of the problems highlighted in the press would start to decrease.

The press still seems to blame the pubs for the problems when I, among others, have said from the very beginning that it's the supermarkets that need looking at.

If we have to sell responsibly in a controlled environment, then so should the supermarkets.

Why is it that we are forced to stop selling alcohol in a controlled environment, only to let the supermarkets continue selling beyond closing time in an uncontrolled one?

Maybe one solution would be to increase the age of

off-sales to 21. How does Asda propose prosecuting under-18s who attempt to purchase alcohol? This is a smoke screen, as each prosecution would be a private one and would cost a considerable amount of money and time. If they are serious, then well done.

I think that if they are happy to continue selling alcohol as a loss leader, then they won't be pursuing to court the under-18s who attempt to purchase such alcohol.

Michael Kheng

via morningadvertiser.co.uk

Planning for summer time

At this time of year licensees will be thinking about Easter hours and British Summer Time (BST).

Let's be clear about this. The old Good Friday closing rules have disappeared. Therefore, there's nothing special about Easter hours unless there's something specifically attached to your licence to that effect.

The start of BST can, however, still be significant. It commences on Sunday, 30 March at 1am. If you're normally licensed to trade until 2am, then, on the face of it, you have a problem - 1am immediately becomes 2am and you are obliged to close unless there is something in your licence dealing with this particular point.

All the licences we have converted include a special provision to the effect that BST should be ignored for the purposes of calculating the hours that the premises traded. On this basis, 1am remained 1am for the purpose of the licence only. The premises could effectively trade until the new 3am.

If there is nothing in

your licence to that effect, effectively you are obliged

to close one hour early.

This can obviously cause problems. You may have arranged transport home at the old 2am, which will be the new 3am.

If you're not sure, I suggest that you check your licence. If it's not mentioned, you may want to put in a rapid application to vary, or alternatively, use a temporary event notice.

Jeremy Allen

Managing partner, Poppleston Allen, London

Don't penalise draught products

An answer to underage and binge drinking - and the "bevvy culture" referred to in Scotland (MA, 14 February 2008) - in the long term must mean improved education in schools and a reduction in the 18-years limit (given the adult responsibility already bestowed upon 16-year-olds).

But if the Government must increase beer duty, why not on packaged products only - especially those masquerading as "fruity"?

If the argument that the social ills that alcohol misuse brings is in direct correlation to the price of alcohol (being "undersold" in supermarkets), then this has to be part of the solution.

Or are the "major" brewers the real villain in the piece for supplying supermarkets with booze at obscenely knock-down prices?

In the strictly controlled and regulated on-trade, the duty on draught products should really remain the same.

David R Jones FFA ABII

David R Jones & Co, Financial Accountants, Wetherby, West Yorkshire