THE Scottish Government is preparing to take on supermarkets and off-licences in the battle against alcohol abuse, forcing them to pay a levy under new plans to make retailers meet the social cost of the country's "bevvy culture".
The Scottish Government believes retailers should share some of the burden for the social cost of Scotland's binge-drinking culture
Proposals for a "polluter pays" charge have been extended from pubs and clubs to include every shop that sells alcohol in Scotland, amid a growing perception among ministers and senior officials that retailers are fuelling crime and anti-social behaviour by selling liquor.
The levy would raise millions to be spent by local licensing boards on projects to deal with the consequences of binge drinking, such as "drunk tanks" to ease pressure on accident and emergency wards, or wardens to monitor taxi ranks in city centres and extra police officers.
However, retailers last night described the plans as "fundamentally flawed".
Details of the proposed levy will be announced in the spring and will be subject to public consultation, but Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Secretary, yesterday made it clear that off-licences and supermarkets were now in the firing line for the new measure. "The 'polluter pays' principle should apply across the board," he said. "More alcohol is now being sold in off-sales than through on sales. And the problems of binge drinking are not restricted to city centres – they're being felt throughout Scotland and in every age group.
"Somebody has to meet the cost of these consequences. It would be manifestly wrong to impose a 'polluter pays' levy only on pubs in city centres and not on supermarkets and off-licences in other towns and communities, if that's where we're also seeing problems.
"We have a serious problem in Scotland. People are telling me the problems are not simply from the licensed trade but also from off-licences."
Research suggests that 80 per cent of all alcohol sold in Scotland comes from off-licences. The problem of under-age drinking has also been linked by the police and government to irresponsible shopkeepers.
The issue was graphically highlighted by the murder of Garry Newlove, who was kicked to death by a gang of drunk teenagers who had been vandalising his wife's car.
A recent Home Office study revealed that almost three-quarters of under-age drinkers in deprived areas get their alcohol from supermarkets, corner shops or from their parents.
The survey showed that 52 per cent obtain alcohol from supermarkets or corner shops and 22 per cent from parents or family members.
Mr MacAskill revealed the new plan during a meeting with alcohol workers in Livingston, which like most towns in Scotland is blighted with the problem of under-age drinkers.
During one Friday last month, 15 teenagers aged between 13 and 15 were picked up by undercover police for under-age drinking.
Mr MacAskill said the levy would help communities to fund measures to tackle local alcohol-related problems.
"We need the resources to pay for the consequences of Scotland's drinking culture, whether it's doing something about people clogging up casualty units or educating young people about the dangers," he said.
"Somebody has to meet the medical and social consequences. Those who are making profits from alcohol are those who have to pay for it."
Retailers already face a crackdown on drinks promotions, while police recently began using teenage volunteers to trap shops willing to sell alcohol to children.
Retail organisations voiced opposition to the new proposals, which follow complaints from publicans that they were being unfairly singled out.
John Drummond, the chief executive of the Scottish Grocers Federation, said the plans were "fundamentally flawed".
"This should only be applied if it can be specifically proven that any individual shopkeeper or publican is seen to be responsible for causing anti-social behaviour or the like," he said. "We already have ways of dealing with anti-social behaviour, we have structures in place. The police ought to be doing that."
Mr Drummond described the levy as "another tax" that could threaten the livelihoods of small shopkeepers already facing a doubling in their licence fees under a separate Holyrood shake-up of the licensing system.
A spokesman for the Association of Convenience Stores said: "We would be concerned about the impact of any blanket levy. The assumption that every retailer is irresponsible is Draconian and we remain keen to discuss this issue further with the minister."
The move to extend the levy to supermarkets and other retailers has failed to quell anger from the pub trade.
Paul Waterson, from the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: "The whole principal of this is wrong."
Bill Aitken, the Conservative justice spokesman, said: "This is a scattergun approach which fails to deal with the basic issue that some premises are well run and others are not.
"Licensing authorities are not nearly tough enough on those that sell alcohol irresponsibly. This anti-drink, anti-business approach does the SNP no credit and fails to tackle the problem the way it should be done, through increased resources for the police and the court system."
He said the cost of the levy would be passed on to consumers, and suggested the move could be open to legal challenge.
But, amid growing evidence of the scale of Scotland's binge-drinking problem, anti-alcohol campaigners welcomed the step.
Frank Soodeen, spokesman for Alcohol Concern, said: "The fact of the matter is that alcohol is no ordinary commodity. We have a situation where a flood of easily available and cheap drink is fuelling rising levels of alcohol-related harm.
"It's completely reasonable for the drinks industry to help share some of the costs associated with its misuse."
A recent report estimated that 28,000 victims of drink-related violence are treated in accident and emergency each year.
Another study, published in 2005, put the annual cost to society of excess drinking in Scotland at £1.1 billion. The report said that the number of alcohol-related deaths had risen from fewer than one in 100 in 1980 to one in 30.
Licensing boards will be free to decide how millions are spentLOCAL licensing boards will be given free reign to spend millions of pounds raised by the proposed alcohol levy, The Scotsman understands.
Projects likely to receive funding include special centres where drunks can sleep off their intoxication overnight.
Discussions have taken place about a year-round "drunk tank" in Edinburgh, but plans have reportedly been frustrated by a lack of money.
A number of towns and cities have introduced marshals, funded by local authorities, to patrol taxi ranks to make sure people on nights out get home safely, and this is another scheme likely to benefit as a result of the "polluter pays" charge.
Details of precisely how the proposed levy is imposed on retailers and publicans have yet to be announced.
With the move fiercely opposed by the retail and alcohol industry, officials will be careful to avoid any potential legal challenge.
But one way could be a top-up charge on the existing fee that is paid to local authority licensing boards.
Councils would have to apply a national levy framework, which could see pubs, clubs and all off- licences – from small cornershops to giant supermarkets – put on a sliding scale of charge "bands" similar to the way council tax is set for householders.
It could also be based on the units of alcohol sold. But such a step would be fiercely resisted by supermarket chains and may be regarded as too radical.
Licence-holders are also facing a separate increase in the cost of selling liquor.
At the moment, landlords pay £172 for a three-year licence, with a further £86 due every time a renewal is needed.
The fees are charged on a flat-rate basis, with all pubs and other licensed premises paying the same, regardless of size.
But a new scheme announced by the Scottish Government in December will allow local licensing boards to set their own charges, on a sliding scale, depending on the size of each pub, within capped limits.
It will see the fees for the biggest pubs soar to £2,000 for an initial application, with an additional £900 annual renewal fee.
All pubs will be faced with the initial charge, as they require new one-year permits under new licensing laws.
That means that a large pub currently faced with an £86 three-year renewal charge would be hit with a £3,800 bill.
Michael Howie
Beer cheaper than water drives surge in supermarket drink sales SUPERMARKETS and corner shops now account for almost a third of all alcohol sold in Scotland, compared with only a fifth 25 years ago, according to the beer industry. Forty-one per cent of Britain's beer is now bought in shops and supermarkets, compared to 33 per cent in 2000 and 30 per cent in 1986.
The shift away from bars has been driven by loss-leading supermarket prices – which have left beer cheaper than water – and the smoking ban, which has led to more consumers drinking at home.
Asda recently slashed the price of its own value-brand beer to just 22p for a 440ml can following similar moves from Tesco and Sainsbury's. It puts the price of beer at 50p a litre (around 28p a pint). Own-brand water costs between 56p and 92p a litre, depending on the store, while own-brand cola costs between 56p to 65p a litre.
The difference between "on-trade" pub and "off-trade" shelf prices is now so wide that it would be cheaper for many pub owners to buy their alcohol in supermarkets than from their own suppliers.
TNS World Panel, a market researcher, said Scots spent £138.8 million on alcohol from supermarkets and off-licences in the run-up to Christmas and New Year.
Supermarkets often sell beer and wine cheaply in order to attract lucrative grocery shoppers, but village shops and convenience stores rely on the income from alcohol sales for their survival. According to the Association of Convenience Stores, beer, wine and spirits account for 14 per cent of smaller shops' profits and 18 per cent of their sales.
In 2005, off-sales licences in Scotland accounted for more than a third of the 17,059 liquor licences in Scotland. Of those, smaller shops accounted for 44 per cent, supermarkets 9 per cent and garages 2 per cent. In 2004, off-licence alcohol sales were broken down as 28 per cent beer, 44 per cent wine (including fortified wine), 22 per cent spirits, 3 per cent cider, and 3 per cent alcopops.
The trend worries alcohol campaigners because more than half of under-age drinkers get their alcohol from shops and supermarkets. Half of all vodka drinkers in Britain are under 35, and Scottish off-trade sales of vodka are rising at a rate of about 6 per cent a year.
Lager dominates the take-home market, with a 74 per cent share of all beer and cider sold in 2005.
Alcohol Focus Scotland says price promotions boost sales by up to 25 per cent for the duration of the offer, and 83 per cent of people who buy alcohol on promotion return for a second purchase.
ALASTAIR JAMIESON
CONSUMER AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT
