Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to help ensure age checks are being conducted on the sale of alcohol by (a) alcohol home delivery services and (b) other online retailers.

The Licensing Act (2003) regulates the sale of alcohol. It sets out a number of licensing objectives, one of which is the protection of children from harm. This objective informs all licensing authorities’ decisions and all licensed premises should promote it. It is illegal to sell age-restricted products to underage consumers whether that is in person or the sales are online, including home delivery. We expect all retailers to have suitable policies in place to ensure this is the case.

Enforcement of the Licensing Act is locally led. The Act provides Local Authorities with a range of powers to monitor and enforce adherence to all licensing objectives, including instances where underage sales may be occurring. The Government is considering what further steps could be taken to tackle underage sales.