Eric Illsley: Cheap alcohol is creating issues we ignore at our peril

The choice was to drink beer for under 50p per can at home or pay upwards of £2.75p per pint to drink the same beer in a pub. Cheap availability of alcohol is not the only reason that pub tenants are finding it impossible to compete but it is encouraging the trend to leave the pub and drink at home.

Not everyone is unhappy at the low price of alcohol but it is creating issues which we ignore at our peril.

Many responsible drinkers will welcome low prices but many younger drinkers will now "pre-load" on cheap alcohol at home and then hit the pubs and clubs late in the evening. Inevitably for some this leads to drunkenness, binge drinking and anti social behaviour.

But there are other issues. Unregulated drinking at home can lead to people drinking heavily in isolation, exacerbation of domestic violence incidents and mental health problems.

The biggest problem facing the substance misuse unit in my area is alcohol, not drugs.

The government response to this has been to tax alcohol more heavily. However, as the supermarkets and retailers ignore duty increases with their special offers the only sector being hit by these price hikes are the pub tenants who cannot discount because of high costs and overheads.

Increases in duty together with huge rents and high beer prices usually determined by the tie to the pubco combine to make it impossible for many tenants to make a living.

The contractual requirement placed on tenants to buy their beer only from the pubco, or the tie is hugely controversial and many within the pub industry see this as uncompetitive and the main reason why tenancies cannot make a profit.

The pubcos can negotiate substantial discounts on beer prices but these are not passed on to the tenant. What is clear however, is that pubcos cannot simply churn tenants and squeeze returns from their pub estate through high beer prices and rents and remain oblivious to the closures.

Unfair supermarket competition, unsustainable rents, high alcohol duties, tied beer prices and a declining market are all issues which must be addressed if we are to stop these relentless pub closures and preserve that unique British institution, the pub.