SBPA disagreed with this proposal during the consultation on the basis the measure is disproportionate, will do little to address the problem and will increase the financial burden on licensed premises. We are therefore asking as many landlords in Glasgow to write to the your local City of Glasgow Councillor and your local MSP so that the measure can be overturned before it is implemented fully in Glasgow’s 700 pubs which is due to happen by the end of January 2007.

Contacting your Councillor

If you live or run a business in Glasgow you can find out who your local Councillor is by typing your home or business address into the Councillor Location tool which you can find by following the link below. Remember you are entitled to contact your Councillor to express concern at the measure.

http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/YourCouncil/Council_Committees/Councillors/

Once you have your Councillor’s name you can write to them at:

The City of Glasgow Council
City Chambers
Glasgow G2 1DU

Or send them an email at their email address (using the Councillor’s name in the following format)

Firstname.Surname@councillors.glasgow.gov.uk

Please also copy your email or letter to Cllr Gordon Macdiarmid JP, Convener of the Glasgow Licensing Board, at the Council address above or at his email address of gordon.macdiarmid@councillors.glasgow.gov.uk and to the Leader of the Council, Councillor Steven Purcell at the Council address or at his email address of steven.purcell@councillors.glasgow.gov.uk.

In addition we are asking that you also write to your Members of the Scottish Parliament drawing attention to this issue and asking them to intervene and ask the City of Glasgow’s Licensing Board to withdraw the proposal.

You can find out who your local MSP and who your Regional MSPs are by typing your home or business postcode into the Constituency Location tool which you can find by following the link below. Remember you are entitled to contact all of your Regional MSPs who also represent you.

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/index.htm

Once you have your MSPs’ names you can write to them at:

The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh EH99 1SP

Or send them an email at their email address (using the MSPs’ name(s) in the following format)

Firstname.Surname.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

Some specific points you may want to include in your e-mail/letter:

· You are in full support of policies designed to target and tackle the violent thugs who use glass as a weapon. And you want to work, as a member of the licensed trade, with Glasgow Licensing Board to examine what further actions can be taken in contributing to the reduction of risk in this area.

· You disagree with Glasgow Licensing Board’s decision to ban the use of glass in all the city’s pubs on a city wide basis. You believe instead that the measures should be considered on a premises by premises basis where there are problems and where these would be solved by this action. This is the approach which is being used in Edinburgh.

· The number of glassing incidents at an average of just 1.5 a week is a serious one but minimal when considered against the 70,000 people who use Glasgow City Centre every evening at weekends. Indeed, the latest figures from Strathclyde Police suggest even this low number is actually falling.

· The environment would be one of the biggest losers from the forced blanket introduction of plastic bottles and glasses. Plastic bottles are non-biodegradable and by choosing to produce plastic bottles rather than glass toxic emissions are increased by a factor of 100. This year more than 1.2 million glass bottles will be used in Scotland’s pubs and clubs. More than 1,192,000 pints of beer alone are served in glasses every day in Scotland – 435,000,000 a year – an indicator for the number of plastic glasses that would have to be produced and disposed of annually.

· Plastic is unpopular with consumers. Research clearly shows that customers believe packaging product in glass suggests both ‘quality’ and ‘premiumness’ and that consumers prefer to drink out of glass and that it tastes better out of glass than plastic.

· Forcing producers to bottle their drinks in plastic would require the replacement of existing bottling lines with entirely new equipment. Even a relatively small-scale line that would be needed by one of Scotland’s brewers would necessitate an investment in excess of £4 million.

· You are opposed to the Glasgow Licensing Board’s policy to ban the use of glass in the City’s 1,200 pubs, restaurants and hotels which risks doing significant damage to the city’s hospitality industry.

Making your email/letter have an impact:

· Make it clear that it is a personal statement as the Councillor’s/MSP’s constituent or a business within their ward/constituency - this will have more impact.

· Tell them about your business – how many people you employ, about your customers, the local suppliers you support and what your pub does for the local community.

· Keep your e-mail/letter simple and concise – perhaps by only covering just the one topic.

· Give your elected representative your name and give your address.

· Explain how you are affected by the issue and what your views are.

· Be reasonable and polite - being aggressive won't help get your message across.

· If a politician already supports your position on the issue, write to thank them for their support.

· Make sure you ask for a response to your e-mail/letter.

· Write a follow-up - depending on the outcome say thank you or give a polite expression of disappointment in their lack of support for your concerns