'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.