This is one area in which I accept what the Government is saying—that we do not have the powers to limit advertising in the way we might wish to. However, that is not an argument not to use the powers that we have. In fact, it was the current First Minister who originally looked at the issue in relation to tobacco and ran up against the same problems that I have run up against. Subsequently, the UK Government banned tobacco advertising, so it ceased to be a problem. Perhaps the UK Government will have a change of heart and introduce a ban on alcohol advertising, although I very much doubt it.
The purpose of a total ban, which I think is what you are alluding to, would be to denormalise alcohol and stop it from being ubiquitous across society. The amount that is spent on advertising is vast. We do not have the power to implement a total ban, but we have the power to introduce some limited measures.
What I find interesting is the fact that, at the moment, we have a situation in which no promotion of alcohol is allowed within 200m of premises. That means that alcohol can be promoted 201m away from premises. If that promotional activity takes place near a school, we are reliant on a voluntary ban. At the moment, it is possible to advertise alcohol 101m away from a school and 201m away from the nearest premises.
As the committee heard, the minister was not keen on voluntary bans, and I agree with her. I do not think that voluntary bans are adequate in dealing with an issue that is such a problem, particularly for Scotland. What I am proposing is a ban on any such activity within 200m of all schools, crèches, play parks and so on. If we overlapped that with the ban on promotional activity within 200m of premises, there would be fairly limited billboard or fixed-place advertising in our communities. I think that that would be a useful first step. It would not be an absolute measure, but it would be a useful way of making alcohol less visible to children.
The evidence from the tobacco side is very clear. The recognition of tobacco brand names has dropped off quite considerably since 2003, but the recognition of alcohol brands is still extremely high. The evidence from the University of Stirling, which the committee heard about, indicates that it is very high. Therefore, in my view any step that it would be legitimate for us to take within the powers that we have to reduce that exposure is a step worth taking. The step that I am proposing would not go as far as I would like, but it would at least be a first step.
In France, there is a total ban on alcohol advertising. We can have a discussion about how effective that has been, but there is no doubt that, as a result of the loi Evin, which was approved in the European courts and accepted as being a proportionate and effective measure, and many other measures that were introduced in France in the 1980s as part of a collective drive, France went from the position that we are in today to having an alcohol problem that is slightly below the European average.