Policing and Crime Bill
4:00 pm
Don Shenker: I cannot see how anyone would object to the training of people who serve intoxicating substances. People who serve alcohol are serving an intoxicating substance, and they must consider the law in relation to under-age sales and serving to drunks. It would be completely remiss of anyone to argue that there should not be any training. We need to establish that it is good practice to ensure that people are trained.
The way in which people are trained is a matter for debate. Having looked at the regulatory impact assessment, I was surprised at the cost. We found online training at a fraction of the cost outlined in the RIA for bar server training. We found a £20 per person online course from Learn2Serve. There are low-cost ways of doing this, and there are low-cost ways for licensing authorities to be confident that people who are serving alcohol in their locality have been trained, whether they are a student on a summer break or a long-term member of bar staff. It should be established that training is good practice, and large retailers and producers all talk about the training that they provide for their staff. We are asking for training to a minimum standard to be a mandatory condition to serve alcohol, which is an intoxicating substance. The question is: what is a minimum standard?