SBPA hits out at alcohol proposals
The Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA) has hit out at attempts to introduce minimum pricing, raise the off-trade purchase age to 21 and introduce a responsibility fee for licensees.
In its response to the Scottish Government's proposals on combating alcohol abuse, the SBPA warned that "there is no definitive proven link between price and alcohol misuse".
It said: "SBPA believes that Government interventions on tax and price are blunt and poorly targeted. Policy should target problem drinkers, not penalise the whole population. Hard-pressed, hard-working families will not thank the Government for trying to take even more money from their fast shrinking budgets, when day-to-day costs and prices are spiralling."
The Association also warned that setting Scotland apart from the rest of the UK by introducing a minimum price would be disastrous for the hospitality industry.
It added that intervention on pricing must only be used as a "final resort" and on the basis of "clear evidence".
On raising the off-trade purchase age to 21, the SBPA said: "It seems wholly inconsistent for the Government to consider Scotland's young people responsible enough that they want to lower the voting age for them to 16, but so irresponsible thay want to prevent them buying a beer from an off-sales until they are 21."
The SBPA also savaged proposals to introduce a "polluter pays" fee for licensees to help with clearing up costs. It estimates Scotland's 17,000 licensed premises already pay over £2bn worth of tax each year.
"The emphasis must clearly be on enforcing the law and stopping anti-social behaviour from happening in the first place. The consultation paper seems to somehow endorse this criminality, and accept it and endorse it as inevitable, as long as licensees make a payment to cover the costs of clearing it up afterwards."
