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| Hampshire
County Council now has a duty to enforce the Licensing Laws on the sale
of alcohol. This new responsibility is in response to increasing levels
of under-age drinking and resulting anti-social behaviour.
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| Alcohol
consumption among 11 to 15 year olds has doubled in the last 10 years
and the UK has the second highest rate of teenage drinking in Europe.
The new duty is shared with the police and arrangements are being made
for the Trading Standards Service to take responsibility for the 1,200
off-licences and shops which sell drink in the county. The police will
concentrate on pubs and clubs. |
| For the first
time the law allows ‘test purchases’ of alcohol by under 18
year olds when acting on the instructions of a trading standards officer
or police officer - previously this was illegal. The changes reflect the
experience of Trading Standards in enforcing the law on a range of
age-restricted products, from cigarettes to fireworks, solvents, videos
and CD games. |
| The Service has
used young volunteers to carry out test purchases of such products for
many years. Under official guidelines for test purchasing cigarettes,
youngsters must not be over 14 and should give their true age if asked.
This prevents shops from being misled into selling but it does not
reflect the real world, where teenagers will claim they are the correct
age. It is appreciated that retailers have a very difficult job in
judging age but there are now a variety of proof-of-age cards available
that they can ask to see. |
