All-you-can-drink offers to be banned

13 May 2009 by
All-you-can-drink offers to be banned

The Government today confirmed that all-you-can-drink offers will be banned under a new mandatory code on the sale and promotion of alcohol.

Opening a 12-week consultation on the proposals, the Home Office also said councils will be able to force licensed premises to operate a Challenge 21 scheme, ban glass and introduce CCTV.

Pubs and bars will be forced to offer a 125ml measure of wine and a 25ml or 35 ml measure of gin, rum vodka and whisky.

Licensees that breach the code could lose their licence, face a fine of up to £20,000 and six months' imprisonment.

The Government rejected proposals for a minimum price for alcohol, as it "would unfairly punish the sensible majority of responsible drinkers", but committed to more research on the issue.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "Alcohol-related crime and disorder costs the UK billions every year in police and hospital resources, not to mention the effect it has on the lives of the millions of decent people who want to enjoy a night out.

"It is not about penalising the majority who trade responsibly but the Government has a duty to tackle this issue which affects us all."

The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) described Smith as "arrogant and out of touch" for dismissing the industry's concerns about the costs of imposing a new code of practice during the recession.

ALMR chief executive, Nick Bish, said: "It simply beggars belief that the Home Secretary is still prepared to put businesses and livelihoods on the line by pushing through this code.

"Last year, we lost six pubs a day and over 17,000 jobs to the economy, now Jacqui Smith plans to sacrifice more on the altar of red tape."

The consultation into the draft code closes on 5 August.

Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns hit back at damning beer-tie report >>

Government rules out minimum pricing for alcohol >>

Alcohol code is ‘nanny state nonsense', says BHA >>

Pub industry cautious over mandatory code on alcohol sales >>

Government to introduce restrictions on alcohol sales and promotions >>

Local authorities can now ban happy hours in problem pubs >>

By Daniel Thomas

E-mail your comments to Daniel Thomas here.

Caterersearch.com jobs
Looking for a new job? Find your next bar job here with Caterersearch.com jobs

Blogs on Caterersearch.com](http://www.caterersearch.com/blogs) Catch up with more news and gossip on all Caterer's blogs
[Newsletters For the latest hospitality news, sign up for our e-mail newsletters.
The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking