Tories propose to replace units and stop loss leading
Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has announced that the Conservatives will replace the current units system for measuring alcohol consumption. The Conservative's new green paper on public health says:
"We will change labelling in order to take account of social norms and to abolish systems of labelling that do not help consumers understand the amount of alcohol they drink. For example, rather than just printing the number of units on a bottle of beer, we will add information about the number of bottles drunk by an average person each week and the volume of alcohol contained within that bottle." (p.21)Whilst sections of the industry welcomed the proposal to scrap units, Alcohol Concern highlighted in a BBC report that campaigns have been effective in raising awareness. They also warned against voluntary regulation, stating "Allowing the industry to regulate itself is like a chocolate teapot. You need mandatory regulation."
Perhaps more significantly, though not covered in the news, the green paper states:
"We will
ban retailers from selling alcohol below cost price. (Belgium, France, Portugal and Spain have already introduced
policies to do this.125) To achieve this we will work with competition regulators and retailers to find a fair formula
that could be used to judge whether a product is being sold below cost." (p.24)
This follows the recent and highly publicised report from the Health Select Committee which called for a minimum price, largely unfavoured by the public. Interesting that the minimum pricing measure and proposal to stop 'below cost selling' seem to have the same overall objective, but have received disparate levels of attention. Plans to increase taxes on certain drinks were also outlined last year by the Conservatives.
New Licensing and alcohol powers come in
Certain conditions of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 will come into effect on the 29th January 2010, namely:
- section 28 (persistent sales to children - "three strikes to two strikes")
- section 29 (confiscation of alcohol from under 18's);
- section 30 (new offence of persistently possessing alcohol in a public place by under 18's);
- section 31 (extending directions to leave to those aged 10 or over),
- section 33 (allowing licensing authorities to act as interested parties)
It was announced by the Home Office minister that guidance on the young people provisions and the licensing authorities as interested parties would be available by the end of the month.
However there was no news on the controversial mandatory licensing code, which was legislated in the act but has been subject to ongoing rumours of it being scrapped. However according to a recent report the Home Office has said 'the Government is committed to the mandatory code and plans to deliver it remain on track'.
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