Alcohol sale consultation

Last Updated: 09 Jul 2010The new coalition Government is planning a consultation due in July to take forward the coalition’s commitments to further control the sale of alcohol. The resulting legislation would be implemented in 2011. These commitments are to:

• Ban the sale of alcohol below cost price
• Review alcohol taxation and pricing to ensure it tackles binge drinking without unfairly penalising responsible drinkers, pubs and important local industries
• Overhaul the Licensing Act to give local authorities and the police much stronger powers to remove licences from, or refuse to grant licences to, any premises that are causing problems
• Allow councils and the police to shut down permanently any shop or bar found to be persistently selling alcohol to children
• Double the maximum fine for under-age alcohol sales to £20,000
• Permit local councils to charge more for late-night licences to pay for additional policing.

These proposals have the ability to severely impact upon accommodation providers if they are not well considered. For example, the ban on the sale of alcohol below cost is aimed at supermarkets selling alcohol as a “loss leader”.

However, if applied unthinkingly it could restrict the ability of businesses to undertake promotions where couples get a free bottle of champagne when booking a room or a free glass of wine with a meal – both perfectly legitimate practices.

When the consultation document is released, we will inform readers of the detailed proposals and how you can make a submission.