Scottish alcohol research publication delayed

April 15, 2007: The chief executive of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association (SBPA) has criticised the Scottish Executive for postponing until after the Scottish Parliament elections the publication of a piece of research which examines whether there is any connection between binge-drinking and drinks promotions offered by off-sales premises.

The research was promised by the Scottish Executive during the passage of the
Licensing (Scotland) Act in 2005 which restricts a number of promotions in
on-sales premises, including "buy one get one free" promotions, but doesn't
do so for promotions offered by off-sales premises. This is because the Executive, at the time, said it couldn't prove any connection, despite having access to research produced by the Drug and Alcohol Action Teams in Scotland which suggested there was one.

The Executive commissioned the research in 2006 and initially indicated that
it would be published in November 2006, and then as recently as March 2007.
But now it has confirmed that it will not be published until after the elections in May.

"This decision by the Executive to delay the publication of the
long-awaited research until after the elections smacks of one rule for the
off-sales sector and another for the on sales sector," said Patrick Browne, chief executive of the SBPA.

"The report has apparently been with the Executive since the end of last year, but having had months to sign it off and publish it they have chosen not to do so. This research was promised two years ago and we still haven't seen it.

"We have argued that if the Executive wished to ban certain types of promotions in on-sales premises then it made little sense not to include off-sales premises
in the same restrictions, given that their business model allows the sale of
alcohol even more cheaply.

"This is about a level playing field across the drinks' industry. I suspect we will not now see the research published until after the summer at the earliest."