A free toolkit to help Scottish businesses and licence-holders use the Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) has been launched, coinciding with the 10-year anniversary of PASS holograms’ inclusion on Young Scot National Entitlement Cards.
The new PASS packs, presented by Young Scot at the recent Best Bar None conference in Glasgow, provide anyone selling age-restricted goods or services with a quick reference point to help them arrive at a confident and informed decision about recognising authentic Young Scot National Entitlement Cards as proof of age.
Retailers will be encouraged to promote that they accept valid PASS cards as part of the preparations for the Year of Young People 2018. The new toolkit will help businesses provide young people with the age-restricted goods and services they are entitled to and help businesses to not miss out on legitimate sales.
Best Bar None Glasgow has become the latest group to endorse the PASS scheme. Eleanor Lee of Best Bar None Glasgow, run by Community Safety Glasgow, said: “We’d encourage licensed premises and door stewards to accept the new improved Young Scot cards as proof of age.
“New security measures mean they are tamper-resistant and as credible for proof of age as a passport or driving licence.”
With more than 680,000 Young Scot Cardholders in Scotland, the free Young Scot National Entitlement Card is the biggest and most accessible proof of age scheme in Scotland available to all young people no matter their background or circumstances.
Young Scot, which runs the PASS scheme, audits every one of Scotland’s 32 local authorities which issue the cards. Since 2014, new anti-tamper strips have been added to the card’s date of birth. Young people are also encouraged to keep their photograph up to date.
Peter Adamson, chairman of the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland, said: “We fully support the PASS scheme and recommend retailers accept only passports, driving licences or prescribed documents such as the PASS-approved Young Scot National Entitlement Card.
“The presence of the PASS hologram makes it easier to spot fake or altered identification and is a useful deterrent in the prevention of sales to young persons of age-restricted products such as tobacco and fireworks.”
Louise Macdonald, chief executive of Young Scot, added: “We are asking all licence-holders, shop staff and door staff in Scotland to treat all young people fairly and accept all valid Young Scot Cards by using the new PASS packs.”
According to Police Scotland Chief Superintendent John McKenzie (Safer Communities), the PASS scheme has a vital role to play in combating underage drinking as well as the underage use of cigarettes and tobacco, or the buying of other age-restricted products such as knives.
“Production of the card by a young person at the point of sale affords retailers and their staff the confidence of knowing that the card is a secure form of identification that can be trusted,” he pointed out. “While documents such as passports and driving licences are perfectly legitimate as proof of age, experience has shown that these valuable documents, if lost, can lead to identity theft by organised criminals.
“The Young Scot National Entitlement Card provides an equally legitimate proof of age option and could help reduce the opportunities for organised crime. Police Scotland fully endorses and welcomes the PASS card scheme.”
The toolkit can be downloaded at www.youngscot.net/pass.