Legislation on alcohol and licensing has had little impact on larger stores selling drink, a report suggests.
The ban on irresponsible promotions has had a positive impact on pubs and clubs but there is “clear consensus” that this has been limited to the on-sales sector only.
The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 outlaws irresponsible promotions such as buy one, get one free deals in bars. A similar ban on such deals in off-sales was included in the Alcohol etc Scotland Act 2010.
But a report into the 2005 Act by NHS Health Scotland has found that most of the people interviewed for the research believe that “retail practice, particularly in the larger off-sales sector, had barely changed”.
The report said: “There was a clear consensus that the perceived positive impact in relation to irresponsible promotions was limited to the on-sales sector.”
More than 200 people from the licensed trade, licensing boards, local licensing forums and others were questioned during the three-year study.
The report highlighted the “lack of perceived impact” on the off-sales trade.
“Whilst respondents had hoped that the Alcohol Act might remedy this, most were of the view that retail practice, particularly in the larger off-sale sector, had barely changed,” it said.
“The consensus throughout the evaluation, though, was that the larger off-trade sector had been largely unaffected by recent legislation in terms of its pricing, was too powerful and was able to overturn decisions reached by boards due to its financial clout allowing it access to the best legal resources.”
The Scottish Parliament has already passed legislation to introduce a minimum price of 50p per unit but this has been delayed by legal challenge.