© South Bedfordshire CAMRA 2010
In July 1999, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) published a consultation document on modernising the law on the sale of goods sold by quantity. Case law had established that the head forms part of the measure - in some cases courts have accepted that the head can be as much as 10% of a pint.
The frequently renamed British Beer and Pubs Association (BBPA), which represents the pubs industry recommends not less than 95% liquid measure. However, surveys by Trading Standards Officers (TSO’s) found that 20% of pints bought were less than the BBPA’s minimum recommendation. Views were invited on two options
In March 2002 the DTI issued a proposal to follow the second option, i.e. to legalise and encourage short measure. CAMRA’s view is that a pint is 20 FLUID ounces, nothing less, and the law must make this clear. It is unrealistic to expect precisely 100% to be served, so some tolerance should be allowed before prosecutions occur. However a 5% tolerance is unreasonable.
Views were also invited on the costs and benefits of the two options. Licensees argued that they would have to serve over-measure and hence increase the price per pint, if lined-glasses were used. The DTI invited estimates of the extent of over-measure that would be involved if the 100% liquid minimum provision were to be introduced. Similarly the DTI invited estimates of the costs to licensees and benefits to consumers if the 95% minimum provision in the BLRA’s guidelines were to be given legal force.
We suspect that the main expense of moving to lined glasses is the cost of the extra beer that must be put into every glass, not the cost of glasses, which would be introduced over a period of time. Guidelines issued by the BBPA encourage bar-staff to top up pints, with good grace, when requested. Many pubs display posters saying staff will top up pints on request but remind customers that the head may form up to 5% of the pint under current UK law. The main problem with the law as it stands is that the onus is on the customer to request a full pint rather than the retailer to provide full measure. Unscrupulous breweries and publicans exploit the law by normally serving less than the full measure, knowing that only some customers will ask for a top-up. There are rumours of breweries who recommend that publicans sell over 100% of the beer in each container, e.g. serve 76 pints from a container which holds 72 pints! This is only possible by either supplying less than full measure for each pint ordered or by returning beer to the container.
If a customer is short-changed (s)he will generally tell the bar-staff at the earliest opportunity. If that same customer takes a beer that is less than full measure, (s)he will generally do little more than grumble to drinking companions or just accept the pint as it stands - many (most?) probably don’t even register that they have accepted less than they asked for.
The reason for the lack of public support could be that there is no problem with the measures. However, research by CAMRA has indicated that 25% of the total number of ‘pints’ served are below the legal minimum of 19 fluid ounces. The most likely explanation for the lack of support is that people simply won’t complain. CAMRA encourages ALL drinkers to politely request full measure and if there is a persistent problem to contact the local TSO. The addresses and phone numbers for TSO’s in the South Beds CAMRA branch area are:
| Bedfordshire County Council Trading Standards & Registration Services County Hall Cauldwell Street Bedford Bedfordshire MK42 9AP Tel: 01234 228280 Email: consumer@bedscc.gov.uk |
Luton Borough Council Environmental and Regeneration Department Trading standards Service 44-48 Gordon Street Luton LU1 2QP Tel: 01582 547262 Email: tradingstandards@luton.gov.uk |
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Drinkers who oppose the DTI’s recent proposal and are in favour of moving the onus of providing full measure on to the retailer are encouraged to contact their MP asking them to support the call for the full pint and oppose the DTI’s proposals. The best way to contact MPs is via their local constituency office, but failing that all MPs can be contacted via the House of Commons at the following address: House of Commons LONDON SWIA 0AA In the meantime drinkers can obtain full measure at Dunstable and Luton Beer Festivals, which uses oversized lined glasses, as do all CAMRA organised beer festivals. Return to South Beds CAMRA Home Page |