Sales of Alcohol

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This guide explains the law on sales of intoxicating liquor to under 18 year olds at licensed premises. Please keep it handy for reference by you and your staff. You may wish to display it so that it is always available.

If you are a licensee, you are responsible for ensuring your staff comply with laws designed to restrict the availability of alcohol to youngsters.

Selling alcohol from Licensed Premises

The Licensing Act 2003 strengthens the prohibition on selling intoxicating liquor to under 18s. Under-age drinking is increasing and there is now a duty on the Trading Standards Service to enforce the controls on alcohol sales.

Licensees and staff commit offences by selling to youngsters under 18 years of age.A fine of up to £5000 can be imposed, and your Licence may be forfeited.

It is a defence to prove:

a) that you believed that the person was not under 18; AND

b) either that you had taken all reasonable steps to establish the person's age or that nobody could reasonably have suspected from his/her appearance that the person was under 18.

'All Reasonable Steps' means you and your staff are required to ask for evidence of the person's age ie. an appropriate and valid proof of age document, such as:

• A Passport    (www.ukpa.gov.uk)
• A Photo Driving Licence    (www.dvla.gov.uk) or Local Post Office
• A Citizencard    Tel: 01782 741982 (www.citizencard.com)
• A Validate Card    Tel: 01725 517459 (www.validateuk.co.uk)
• A Portman 'Prove It ' Card    Tel: 02079 073700   (www.portman-group.org.uk)

( NB: Portman 'Prove It' cards are no longer being issued, those that are in date are still valid)

When you see the PASS hologram logo you can be confident that it is a valid photo-ID.

You must be careful to ensure that whatever evidence of proof of age is used, that it is genuine and reliable. It will not be a defence if no reasonable person would have been convinced by it. The best advice is always to ask for proof of age unless you are convinced the person looks at least 21. In this way you will always err on the safe side of the law. Genuine persons of the correct age will not mind being challenged in this way if approached sensibly. The message is clear - No ID, No Sale.

Please note it is also a criminal offence for a licensee or manager to knowingly allow the sale of intoxicating liquor to a person under 18 and for an adult to buy alcohol on behalf of a person under 18.

Test Purchasing

The law gives Local Authorities and the Police the power to make test purchases, using volunteers who are under 18. A code of practice is followed, volunteers will not normally be over 16.5 years old and will answer any questions truthfully. This means you may be checked and, if you sell to a volunteer, you will commit a criminal offence. Sales are being made to these volunteers far too frequently.

What can you do?

This will depend on the size of your business, the volume of alcohol sales, the number of staff you have and how 'at risk' your business is of making illegal sales. For an up-to-date Licensee Pack please contact Trading Standards on 01962 833620. The following are sensible precautions to take:

• Display appropriate posters, point of sale material and window stickers to dissuade youngsters from trying to purchase and to remind your staff
• Train all your staff on the law, how to question and refuse sales if necessary (keep records of the training and reminders given)
• Give advice to your staff about what Age ID cards are acceptable
• Support staff if refusals are made
• Keep a log of 'refused sales'
• Use CCTV cameras to spot potential problems early

Other advice may be available through relevant trade associations.

 

This advice is designed to provide basic guidance to traders. It is not a complete or authoritative statement of the law. For further assistance on this or any other Trading Standards legislation, please contact your nearest office. We will be pleased to offer this information in larger print or translated into any language on request.

B/158/001/July 2004