2. Review of the licensing laws
The Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 governs the sale and supply of alcohol in Scotland. A review of this legislation will be conducted by an independent committee with a wide-ranging remit. (Full details of the membership of that committee and how the review will be conducted have yet to be announced).
Iain Gray, the Deputy Justice Minister stated that the issue of alcohol misuse could not be comprehensively addressed unless the licensing laws were reviewed as they have not been reviewed for almost thirty years. He added that the drinks industry and licensed trade both support the need for such a review. In addition to opening hours, issues in such a review include whether the individual, rather than the establishment, should be licensed, and whether temporary extensions should be controlled by the police rather than by the licensing board. It is announced in the consultation document that "the review will link up with the development of the overall Plan for Action and will have regard to what emerges from this consultation exercise in reaching its conclusions".
(A) Current Scottish Executive Action
1. Scottish Advisory Committee on Alcohol Misuse.
SACAM was set up last year in order to bring together representatives from key sectors in order to advise the Scottish Ministers on tackling alcohol misuse. The representatives on SACAM come from the health sector, local authorities, the police, the drinks industry, the licensed trade and the voluntary sector. Malcolm Chisholm, as Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care, has recently taken over the chair of the committee in order to give its work added political impetus. The Scottish Executive will consult with SACAM before producing the Action Plan.
2. Funding.
The Scottish Executive made £2.5 million available over three years to support the strategic development of a new alcohol misuse strategy backed by SACAM. As a result of this, work is continuing on the development of a nationally recognisable proof of age card which is being piloted in Glasgow and Angus in co-operation with CoSLA and Young Scot. The Health Department is also funding the Server Intervention Project which provides training for licensees and their staff on alcohol misuse issues.
3. Television commercial.
The Executive launched a TV commercial in December (focussing on a bar located behind an accident and emergency reception desk) that highlighted the effects of alcohol-related violence. The commercial aimed to demonstrate the cost of inappropriate drinking and to encourage viewers to recognise such behaviour as socially unacceptable.
4. Healthier living schemes.
The Executive have also taken some action on alcohol through general healthier living schemes. £26 million was invested in a Health Improvement Fund to tackle health inequalities which included practical action on smoking, diet, alcohol, drugs and exercise. £34.5 million was made available to the network of Healthy Living Centres which are designed to improve the health of families in Scotland's most deprived areas.
Malcolm Chisholm commented that the Executive wants to build on, develop and reinforce all the good work that is going on when they come to consider the Action Plan on Alcohol Misuse. "The Executive plans to bring all the various strands together into a comprehensive plan for action, which will act as a framework for action for all concerned at national and local levels".
