Bars losing millions in chaos on ID cards 4


Sarah Bridge writes in the Mail on Sunday:

The Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) was hailed as the answer to Britain’s epidemic of underage drinking and fake ID cards.

But Robert Humphreys, the chairman of PASS and secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, said: ‘There is a real problem here. Many larger club, pub and bar chains have embraced the scheme and welcome PASS hologram cards as proof of age.

‘However, too many bars and clubs are allowing their door staff to turn away responsible young adults with genuine cards, losing them sorely needed custom.’

Genuine cards have a forge-proof hologram and the scheme, launched in 2003, is backed by many organisations including the Home Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Trading Standards Institute, the British Beer and Pub Association and National Pubwatch.

National card schemes carrying the PASS logo include Validate UK, Citizen-Card and YoungScot. There are also many regional card schemes run by local councils.

However research carried out for PASS shows that legal-age teenagers are being turned away nearly two million times every month for failing to provide acceptable ID.

Unlike Home Office ID cards, PASS proof-of-age cards aren’t linked to a database, don’t use expensive biometrics, and in some cases don’t even reveal the holder’s name.


4 thoughts on “Bars losing millions in chaos on ID cards

  • Anteaus

    I think I was 14, maybe 15 when I first had a half-pint in a pub. In those days no-one complained so long as you behaved responsibly and didn’t overstep reasonable bounds.

    Nowadays we have the opposite extreme, and even 25year-olds are faced with embarrassing ID checks. Not just for alcohol, but even to buy a tool such as a screwdriver. Is it any wonder that today’s youth are angered and embittered against society? Is it any wonder they go on binge-drinking and vandalism sprees?

  • Anteaus

    I think I was 14, maybe 15 when I first had a half-pint in a pub. In those days no-one complained so long as you behaved responsibly and didn’t overstep reasonable bounds.

    Nowadays we have the opposite extreme, and even 25year-olds are faced with embarrassing ID checks. Not just for alcohol, but even to buy a tool such as a screwdriver. Is it any wonder that today’s youth are angered and embittered against society? Is it any wonder they go on binge-drinking and vandalism sprees?

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