Quick Guide to the Alcohol (Scotland) Act 2010

Background

The provisions in the Alcohol (Scotland) Act 2010 come into effect on 1 October 2011 and will apply to all licence holders in Scotland.

The purpose of the Act is to prevent promotional offers which reward consumers for purchasing greater volumes of alcohol than they had otherwise intended and to restrict where promotional materials can be displayed within stores and within the vicinity of stores.

The main aspects of the Act which seek to limit promotional materials and activity are detailed below:

Restriction / Example
Minimum Price of packages containing more than one alcoholic product
Restricts the sale of packaged promotional offers where a package containing two or more alcoholic products cannot be sold on the premises at an equal or lesser price than the sum of the price at which each individual alcoholic product is for sale on the premises.
The clause only applies if a single unit is for sale in the premises, of the same size as those contained in the package. /
  • If a retailer sells a bottle of wine at £4 per bottle, they would not be able to sell a package of two of these bottles for less than £8.
  • Cased wine offers can still be made available, as long as the single bottles are not available on sale individually in-store
  • Multi-packs will not be affected by this restriction as long as the individual product is not for sale separately in-store. There is no requirement for multipacks to be priced in a linear fashion unless a single product is for sale in store.

Off-sales: restriction on supply of alcoholic drinks free of charge or at a reduced price
Provision (b) in the 2005 Act has been extended to the off-trade to prevent the sale of an alcoholic drink free of charge or at a reduced price on the purchase of one or more drinks. This will prevent multi-buy offers such as 3 for 2
The sections that apply to the off-trade are:
(A drinks promotion is irresponsible if it: )
(a) relates specifically to an alcoholic drink likely to appeal largely to persons under the age of 18,
(b) involves the supply of an alcoholic drink free of charge or at a reduced price on the purchase of one or more drinks (whether or not alcoholic drinks),
(f) is based on the strength of any alcohol,
(g) rewards or encourages, or seeks to reward or encourage, drinking alcohol quickly, or
(h) offers alcohol as a reward or prize, unless the alcohol is in a sealed container and consumed off the premises.
It also disapplies some of the restrictions to the off-trade as the use of the word ‘measure’ was confusing.
The sections that will no longer apply to the off-trade are:
(A drinks promotion is irresponsible if it: )
(c) involves the supply free of charge or at a reduced price of one or more extra measures of an alcoholic drink on the purchase of one or more measures of the drink
(d) involves the supply of unlimited amounts of alcohol for a fixed charge (including any charge for entry to the premises)
(e) encourages, or seeks to encourage, a person to buy or consume a larger measure of alcohol than the person had otherwise intended to consume / The extension of the quantity discounts ban to the off-trade means that the following types of promotions will no longer be permissible:
  • Buy one get one free
  • Three for the price of two
  • Five for the price of four, or cheapest free
  • 3 bottles of wine for £10
  • Buy six, get 20% off
  • Offers which relate solely to the price of a product and are not based on rewarding the purchase of more drinks continue to be legal.
  • Coupons and vouchers which offer a discount on the purchase of a single measure or bottle or can continue to be permissible
  • Similarly give-aways (hats, t-shirts etc) continue to be allowed as long as the promotion is based on the purchase of a single product or drink and does not encourage the purchase of more alcohol.

Off sales: Location of drinks promotions
Alcohol promotions can only be displayed within the alcohol display area or a tasting room.
The restriction is also extended to the ‘vicinity’ of the premises for promotions deemed to be ‘in connection with the premises’. Vicinity is defined as 200 metres from the boundary as defined in the ‘floor layout plan’
Newspapers, magazines and other publications which do not ‘relate only or primarily to alcohol’ are exempt from the restrictions. /
  • Branded non-alcoholic products (products that bear a name or image of an alcoholic product such as football tops, slippers, tea towels etc) may constitute a drinks promotion and, if so, may only be displayed in the alcohol display area or tasting room
  • If a branded alcoholic product is for sale, e.g. a football top sponsored by a producer, it can continue to be displayed outside of the alcohol display area.
  • Similarly a free newspaper, magazine or other publication which does not relate only or primarily to alcohol (read less than 50%) can continue to be displayed outside of the alcohol display area.
  • Promotions within the vicinity of the premises are those which are deemed to be in the control of the licence holder, therefore an advert for a particular product which does not refer to the store, will continue to be permissible from October.

A full summary of the Act can be found on the link below: