Press Releases

ACS has responded to the 2015 Manifesto published by the All Party Group on Alcohol Misuse.

The Group, which is a forum for MPs and Peers sympathetic to the policy objectives of alcohol health campaigners, has set out a ten point wish list of measures they would like to see imposed by the next Government. It includes minimum unit pricing, health warnings on alcohol labels and new powers for Councils to prevent the opening of new off licences.

ACS has called on the Department of Health to look again at the operational impact that plain tobacco packaging would have on retailers.

In its submission, ACS raises concerns that the operational burdens of standardized packaging on retailers have not been fully considered. ACS argues that the removal of branding on tobacco products would make those products more difficult to differentiate, increasing handling and transactions times at every stage.

ACS  has called for Government to scrap plans to impose a cap on the size of business that is eligible for compensation under the Riot Damages Act. 

The Riot Damages Act that was used to assess compensation during the 2011 riots was originally published in 1886.

‘Managing Health And Safety’ and ‘Selling Fireworks’ are the two latest Assured Advice Guides published by ACS under its innovative primary authority compliance scheme. The scheme, which is free to all ACS members, provides retailers with excellent tailored advice developed by retail and local authority experts.

Once members sign up to the scheme and use the guidance, they can be sure that their policies and procedures will not be challenged or changed by any other local authority.

ACS has responded to the National Institute of Clinical Excellence’s consultation on preventing harmful alcohol use in the community, calling for any interventions made by public health agencies in local licensing matters to be based on the effective and consistent use of data.

ACS has responded to a call by 20 councils for powers to impose a new levy on supermarkets.

Councils have made this bid for new powers using the procedures laid down in the Sustainable Communities Act 2007. Under the Act Councils can submit requests for changes in national legislation or taxation to the Government, which is legally required to consider the request, although not to agree to it. A similar request made in 2013 was rejected by Ministers.

The Regulatory Policy Committee has published their Opinion on the Impact Assessment for the introduction of plain packaging in the UK, raising a number of concerns about the Department of Health’s analysis of the impact on businesses.

In the document, released today, the RPC has called on the Department of Health to look at the following areas with regard to impact on businesses:

Minister of State for Justice, Rt Hon Lord Faulks, has agreed to a meeting to discuss the protection of workers who sell alcohol as part of a debate in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill.

The debate, which took place last night (21st July), concerned an amendment that would have given extra legal protection to staff who are assaulted whilst selling alcohol by creating a separate summary offence on a worker enforcing the provision of the Licensing Act for the sale of alcohol.

ACS has told an influential group of MPs that high streets continue to suffer from the unrelenting stream of out of town developments.

In an evidence session on the operation of the National Planning Policy Framework, ACS Chief Executive James Lowman told the Communities and Local Government Select Committee of the failure of the Government’s ‘town centre first’ policy and the need for change to support high streets.

The Scottish Grocers Federation and ACS have welcomed the call by Local Government and Planning Minister Derek Mackay that urges all public bodies in Scotland to make a commitment to “town centre first” for all their new investment decisions.

Under the principle, public bodies such as councils, the police and the NHS – will be encouraged to invest in such areas, and weigh up the financial pressure of closing down town centre facilities against the benefits of maintaining vibrant, healthy high streets.