Kent leads the way in under-age sales battle

The UK’s first accreditation scheme to help retailers deal with under-age sales is being launched this week.

The Kent Community Alcohol Partnership is launching the scheme to demonstrate to communities that shops, bars and clubs are working together to try to change attitudes towards alcohol.

Traders in the partnership areas who want to be accredited will commit to adopting an effective system to prevent underage sales, including Challenge 21, or preferably Challenge 25, whereby young people who appear to be under 21 or 25 respectively are asked to produce proof that they are 18 when attempting to purchase alcohol.

In return, retailers have access to support and training from the partnership as well as a window sticker to show that they are a responsible trader.

The scheme is being run by Kent County Council’s Kent Trading Standards working closely with Kent Police, the Retail of Alcohol Standards Group and Kent District Councils, as the licencing authorities.

The organisations involved in the Kent Community Alcohol Partnership and retailers signing up for the new scheme will be in Canterbury on Tuesday, 24 November, to hear the results of an independent evaluation of the pilot project and find out which areas the scheme will now be extended to.

The event will include a series of short briefings, including the results of the evaluation of the three pilot areas, carried out by the University of Kent; an announcement of new Kent Community Alcohol Partnership areas; and the official launch of the accreditation scheme for retailers.

Nick Grant, chairman of the Retail of Alcohol Standards Group, will also be speaking to give an industry viewpoint on dealing with under-age sales.

The Kent Community Alcohol Partnership has been piloted in Edenbridge, Canterbury and Thanet, where it has used a combination of training for retailers, patrols by police and community wardens, as well as running activities for young people to reduce the amount of under-age drinking and anti-social behaviour in those areas.

Grant said: “The results of this pilot scheme are encouraging and demonstrate what can be achieved when local enforcement agencies work in partnership with retailers to curb underage purchase of alcohol.

“Challenge 25 is already widely in use by retailers and the accreditation scheme will reinforce the work we are doing together to change the culture around alcohol.”

Alan Lodge, 23.11.2009