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Chapter 7: Controlling the sale and purchase of
alcohol
Chapter aims
This chapter addresses the following key questions:
- Do people think 'irresponsible' drinks promotions
should be banned or restricted?
- How do people think longer opening hours would
affect drinking patterns?
- What are people's attitudes towards raising tax on
alcohol?
Introduction
The
Licensing (Scotland) Bill, introduced into the
Scottish Parliament in February 2005, outlines various
measures intended to tackle Scotland's drinking problems
through controlling the sale and purchase of alcohol. Views
on the 'no proof, no sale' proposal to tackle underage
drinking were discussed in Chapter 6. The
SSA also included questions to test
attitudes towards proposals to tighten the rules around
'irresponsible' promotions, such as happy hours and
two-for-one offers (the Bill effectively bans these by
stating that pubs must sell drinks at the same price for at
least 48 hours) and longer opening hours. Although the Bill
does not contain provisions explicitly aimed at extending
opening hours, plans to replace the current system of
statutory opening hours with a system in which there are no
prescribed hours have been widely interpreted as creating
the potential for licensees to be granted longer opening
hours. Assuming these measures are successfully introduced,
these questions could be repeated in future sweeps of the
SSA to assess whether public attitudes
towards these policies have shifted. Finally, the survey
asked respondents what they thought about increasing tax on
alcohol to encourage people to drink less.
'Irresponsible promotions'
Respondents were asked which of three possible positions
regarding cheap drinks promotions, such as happy hours or
half price special offers, came closest to their view on
the issue - they should be banned entirely, they should be
restricted, or it should be left to pubs or bars to decide
what price to sell drinks at. Figure 7.1 shows that while
just 1 in 5 respondents support an outright ban, as
effectively proposed by the current Bill, there is majority
support for some action to be taken on 'irresponsible'
promotions. Fifty-eight per cent think that these types of
offers should at the very least be restricted, while only
41% support the status quo (leaving it to pubs and bars to
decide).
Figure 7.1 Views on cheap drinks
promotions
Base = 1,637
There were significant differences in attitudes towards
banning or restricting 'irresponsible promotions' by age
(Figure 7.2). Just 2% of 18-24 year-olds supported an
outright ban and only a third supported taking any action
to restrict happy hours or two-for-one offers, compared
with 34% and 67% respectively of those aged over 65.
Sixty-one percent of women compared with 54% of men support
action on 'irresponsible promotions'. Respondents with a
degree were also more likely to support action than those
with no qualifications (64% of those with a degree support
a ban or restrictions, compared with 54% of those with no
qualifications).
Figure 7.2 Views on cheap drinks promotions by
age (% who favour an outright ban and % favouring any
action)
Base: 18-24 = 125, 25-39 = 399, 40-64 = 705, 65+ =
408
Longer opening hours
Figure 7.3 shows views on the likely impact of longer
opening hours on people's drinking patterns. The balance of
opinion appears to be that longer opening hours will have a
negative impact in terms of encouraging heavy drinking.
Over half (54%) think that longer opening hours will mean
people drink more, while just over a third (36%) think
people will pace their drinking more sensibly. However,
there are sharp differences between the views of men and
women. Women are much more likely than men to think that
longer opening hours will mean people drink more, and much
less likely than men to say that people will pace their
drinking more sensibly. Younger respondents are also
significantly more likely than older respondents to think
that longer opening hours will encourage heavier drinking
(71% of 18-24 year-olds, compared with 61% of 25-39
year-olds).
Figure 7.3 Views on longer opening hours by
gender of respondent
Base: Men = 687, Women = 950
Taxing alcohol
Respondents did not appear to support increasing tax as
a measure to discourage heavy drinking. Fifty-two per cent
disagree or disagree strongly with the statement 'The
government should tax alcohol more heavily to encourage
people to drink less', while just over a quarter agree
(Figure 7.4). There is slightly more support for taxing
alcohol among women (29%) than men (23%), but differences
by age and occupational group are not significant.
Respondents with a degree (21%) are
less likely to support tax increases than those
with no qualifications (37%), as are those in the highest
income band (£38,000 or more) compared with those in the
lowest income band (£11,999 or less)..
It is possible that respondents are reacting negatively
to the word 'tax' in this question. If they had been asked
whether alcohol should
cost more to encourage people to drink less, they
might have been more inclined to agree. If questions about
alcohol policies are repeated in future sweeps of the
SSA, we would suggest including an
alternative question to test this theory.
Figure 7.4 'The government should tax alcohol
more heavily to encourage people to drink less' (%
agree/disagree)
Base: 1,514
Key points from this chapter
- Around 1 in 5 people (21%) support an outright ban
on 'irresponsible' drinks promotions while a further
37% think these offers should be restricted. Support
for restricting cheap drinks promotions is lowest among
younger people.
- The balance of public opinion is that longer pub
opening hours would encourage heavier drinking. Over
half (54%) think longer opening hours will mean people
drink more, while just over a third think people will
pace their drinking more sensibly.
- There appears to be little support for increasing
taxes on alcohol to encourage more sensible
drinking.
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