Pubdate: Thurs, 27 May 1999 Source: Scotsman (UK) Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd 1999 Contact: http://www.scotsman.com/ Forum: http://www.scotsman.com/ Author: IAN SMITH 'TIME' TO BE CALLED ON HAPPY HOURS? "HAPPY hours" are under threat from Glasgow council, which is considering banning cheap alcohol promotions in the city's pubs. Alcohol campaign groups believe that happy hours encourage binge drinking. However, the council would have to seek the approval of the Scottish parliament for a by-law to enforce the ban. Alcohol campaign groups hope this could lead to Scotland-wide legislation banning happy hours. Councils in the west of Scotland are campaigning to put licensing issues on the parliament's agenda. Glasgow council has been joined by ten other licensing authorities in lobbying MSPs to strengthen the licensing powers of councils to give them more control. A ban on happy hours is supported by the Scottish Licence Trade Association (SLTA), which represents pub owners. It also wants a moratorium on the granting of pub licences in Scotland, claiming that there are too many pubs resulting in price competition and a growing number of happy hour promotions. John Moynes, the newly-elected chairman of Glasgow council's licensing board, said he intended to tackle the problem of binge drinking in happy hours. Mr Moynes said: "We are setting up a working group to consider the concerns surrounding alcohol in the city. The happy hour situation is one of the main concerns, as is the number of pubs in the city. "If we decide a ban on happy hours is required we will then approach the Scottish parliament and ask to be granted a by-law banning them." Paul Waterson, the president of the SLTA, said the problem had arisen because there were too many pubs, particularly in cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow, and that no new licences should be granted. He said: "There are far too many licences being granted, resulting in too many pubs competing for a market share. This is resulting in smaller pubs being wiped out. "The other result is cheap drinks promotions such as happy hours which we are totally against. Price should not be used as a marketing tool to sell alcohol. It makes people drink more in a shorter amount of time and is invariably targeted at young and inexperienced drinkers." Adrian Davies, the director of the Glasgow Council on Alcohol, supported the scheme. He said: "We are right behind this. Happy hours give out entirely the wrong message about drinking. Problems with drinking in Scotland arise because people get too drunk and happy hours encourage that. "The message happy hours give to people is: drink as much as you can as quickly as you can. That sort of approach is always going to lead to trouble." A pamphlet to lobby the Scottish parliament on drink-related issues, Liquor Licensing - A case for Reappraisal, was put together by the licensing boards in Glasgow, North and South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde and Argyll and Bute. It will be presented to MSPs in an attempt to encourage them to reconsider areas of the licensing laws. It calls for new powers to control and monitor the sale of alcopops to underage drinkers and increased powers to check pub stewards for criminal convictions. Teenage drinking in England has doubled over six years, according to a survey published yesterday. The charity Alcohol Concern found that 11- to 15-year-olds in England are consuming the equivalent of almost three million pints of alcohol a week. It said that, in 1996, 830,000 11- to 15-year-olds admitted they drank regularly, compared with 600,000 in 1990. The charity blamed the huge increase on the introduction of alcopops in 1995 and the increased prosperity of youngsters. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck