RADICAL plans to change tactics in Scotland's battle with the bottle will start with young consumers and look at pricing them out of drinking too much, often using methods familiar to smokers.
RADICAL plans to change tactics in Scotland's battle with the bottle will start with young consumers and look at pricing them out of drinking too much, often using methods familiar to smokers.
A minimum price would be aimed at making it more expensive for under-age drinkers to get drunk but also to narrow the gulf in price between drinking in a pub and staying at home with a carry out, which has become common in recent years.
The price of strong drink could rocket with spirits likely to be hit hardest because of their high alcohol content.
A bottle of Glen's Vodka would be likely to go up by 23% while the price of Strongbow cider - a favourite with under-age drinkers - could rise by 27%.
But some drinks traditionally associated with social problems and abuse by teenagers, such as tonic wine, would not increase as much as spirits and cheap own-brand lagers.
A minimum price of 35p per unit would not necessarily reflect the final price charged by an off-sales but these are examples of the minimum that retailers would be allowed to set.
A litre bottle of Famous Grouse, currently on sale at a leading supermarket costs £14.99.
3 staff charged for serving drunksTHREE Glasgow pub staff have been charged in a police crackdown on venues serving drunks.All three workers at The Goose on Union Street have been reported to prosecutors and the venue is expected to face sanctions when it next comes before the city's licensing board. The move follows a warning from Strathclyde Police that, as part of its Campaign Against Violence to combat alcohol-related crime, it would target premises where alcohol was being sold to drunks. The number of reports to the fiscal for those breaching the law is understood to be below 20. Sources claim the city centre bar appeared to have been the subject of targeted action because of a reputation for being a haven for serious drinkers. A police spokeswoman confirmed: Two males, aged 24 and 31, and a female, aged 27, have been reported to the procurator fiscal in connection with the contravention of the Licensing Scotland Act 1976. Owners Mitchell & Butler refused to comment. |
With a 40% alcohol content, the large bottle holds 40 units, giving a minimum legal price of £14, nearly a pound less.
Party packs of lager would also be affected.
Tesco offers an 18-can slab of Tennent's lager for £10, working out at less than 56p per can.
That price would have to rise to at least £11.09 for the same case of beer, bringing the cost of a can to nearly 62p.
And stores who currently offer own-brand drinks at even lower prices will have to raise them to at least the same level.
But drinks popular with under-agers would not be hit by a 35p minimum.
A bottle of Buckfast tonic wine, which at 15% has a slightly higher alcohol volume than typical table wine, could be sold for just under £4. That's less than the typical selling price of about £5.50 to £6 currently charged.
And alcopops such as Bacardi Breezers, which currently sell for more than £2.70 for a large 70cl bottle, could be discounted further under the new scheme.
The minimum legal price could be just 98p - unless the consultation process concludes that a much steeper minimum tariff should be introduced.
A raft of key changes are outlined in the public consultation document issued by the Scottish Government yesterday.
The plans have already angered some retailers while drawing praise from groups dealing with alcohol problems.
The plans include:
- Raising the age for buying drink at an off-licence to 21.
- Setting a minimum price at which a unit of alcohol can be sold.
- Ending "upselling" where pubs offer extra drinks at a low price.
- A "social responsibility fee" imposed on some sellers to help pay for the consequences of alcohol misuse.
- Introducing alcohol-only checkouts: like cigarette counters, this would make a physical statement that alcohol is not just another item on the weekly shopping list.
- Spending an extra £85million on prevention, treatment and support services, bringing total alcohol spending by health and social services in Scotland to £120m over the next three years.
Some of that cash could come from the responsibility fee to reduce the burden on taxpayers, similar to the tobacco tax levied on smokers.
But some of that booze tax could be used to tackle other aspects of alcohol's impact on society, such as clearing litter or compensating the victims of crime.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon is confident the proposals will start to tackle Scotland's deadly relationship with the bottle.
The Govan MSP said she was determined to "defuse the time-bomb" that alcohol represented to the health of the nation.
She added: "People are drinking ever greater quantities of stronger alcoholic drinks.
"It should come as no surprise that alcohol-related health problems have increased.
"The cost to our health service, justice services and our economy is enormous and growing. And the cost to our families, communities and society is incalculable."
