EDINBURGH'S licensing board convener today urged caution over the proposed levy on licensed premises to help meet the costs of drink-fuelled antisocial behaviour.
Liberal Democrat councillor Marjorie Thomas said she backed most of the initiatives outlined yesterday in the Scottish Government's strategy to tackle alcohol misuse.
But she signalled reservations about the proposed "social responsibility fee" wh
ich certain pubs, clubs and off-licences would be charged to help pay for late-night policing and other services linked to alcohol misuse.
Cllr Thomas said the licensed trade did not have unlimited cash and it was already facing increased costs on several fronts.
She said premises in Princes Street, Rose Street and George Street were already going to be paying extra under the new Business Improvement District scheme for better cleaning and security.
She said: "We will have to look and see how Edinburgh will deal with this because it's possible people will already be addressing it.
"We have to be careful people are not being unfairly treated. We recently increased the cost of a licence considerably. The new tables and chairs policy costs them money. The trade don't have a bottomless pit. We have to be a wee bit careful."
The Scottish Government consultation paper published yesterday proposed a ban on under-21s buying booze at off-licences, a minimum price per unit for alcohol, separate drinks queues in supermarkets and an end to three-for-two style promotions.
The Scottish Grocers Federation, which represents convenience stores, said some of the measures were "unfair" or "absurd". It claimed the "social responsibility fee" was a tax which could threaten the livelihoods of small shopkeepers and it said minimum pricing would unfairly penalise sensible drinkers.
The minimum pricing, expected to be 35p per unit could see the cost of Strongbow cider increase by 27 per cent and McEwan's Export Premium by 35 per cent, although Buckfast would not increase at all.
Ross Finnie, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, branded the increase in the minimum age for off-sales "totally misguided". He said: "Introducing a presumption of guilt for an entire generation of 18 to 20-year-olds that they are irresponsible drinkers will do nothing to improve relations between government and young people."
But Cllr Thomas supported the proposal. She said: "The under-21s move is pretty radical but I think it's worth a go. When youngsters are in a pub, the publican has a responsibility to ensure they are not serving people who are drunk, so their drinking is being monitored in that way.
"But if they buy their drink at a supermarket or an off-licence, they can buy as much as they like and drink as much as they like.
"I've seen these statistics for health in Scotland and they are absolutely appalling, and someone needs to do something about that."
She also backed separate queues in supermarkets.
"It's the culture of drinking we have to address," she said. "People are going in and buying drink as they would a loaf of bread."
The full article contains 518 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
