What does the new Government coalition have in store for alcohol policy?

It is probably fair to say alcohol policy was not likely to have been a key topic in the formative discussions of the new Con-Lib Dem coalition Government. Nonetheless, we know some common ground and a few differences between the their pre-election alcohol proposals.

The Conservative's alcohol proposals set out to:

• allow councils and the police to shut down permanently any shop or bar found persistently selling alcohol to children;
  
• double the maximum fine for under-age alcohol sales to £20,000;
• raise taxes on those drinks linked to antisocial drinking, while abolishing Labour’s new ‘cider tax’ on ordinary drinkers;
  
• ban off-licences and supermarkets from selling alcohol below cost price; and,
• permit local councils to charge more for latenight licences to pay for additional policing. 

The Liberal Democrat's alcohol proposals were not altogether disimilar:

We support a ban on below-cost selling, and are in favour of the principle of minimum pricing, subject to detailed work to establish how it could be used in tackling problems of irresponsible drinking. We will also review the complex, ill-thought-through system of taxation for alcohol to ensure it tackles binge drinking without unfairly penalising responsible drinkers, pubs and important local industries."

The Morning Advertiser has usefully summarised how the two parties stood in respect of pub issues in its recent news post 'Cautious welcome for new Government':

Tories and Lib Dems — where they stand on pub issues

Areas of agreement

• Banning below-cost alcohol sales
• Exempting venues with a capacity under 200 from needing a licence for hosting live music
• No rise in National Insurance contributions
• Granting automatic rate relief

Areas of differences

• Alcohol tax: the Tories would raise taxes on drinks “linked to anti-social behaviour”, although they would reverse Labour’s planned 10%-above-inflation alcohol tax hike. The Lib Dems would review the “ill-thought-through” alcohol tax system, including the beer duty escalator, so it targets bingeing but not responsible drinkers and pubs.
• Licensing: the Tories want to “overhaul” the regime, giving greater powers to police and councils to remove licences, doubling maximum fines for underage sales and charging more for late-night licences. The Lib Dems, in contrast, have accepted that the system is basically best left alone, although they want licence reviews for every underage sale.
• Beer tie: the Conservatives say the industry should have a chance to implement self-regulation by June 2011 before enforcing a statutory code. The Lib Dems have wide-ranging plans, including a statutory code to ensure tied tenants aren’t worse off than free-of-tie, and asking the Competition Commission to probe limits on pub ownership

So potential changes for licensing regimes and other unknowns such as how 'banning below cost sales' would be implemented. The minimum pricing debate is likely to continue as the various groups and interests continue calls for and against.

Comments

[john nunnerley]

Why Dont the N H S Charge anybody who comes into the emergency department of any hospital who are under the influence of drink the cost of there care and for any type of bandage or medicine to the full price OF THE DOCTORS time
expertise, and of course the Nurses.

[john nunnerley]

Then,
If the drinkers get charged will the number of people reporting to the hospital drop in number???

[james]

Hi John - you are not the only one to call for that! Those that object tend to say it is against the ethos of the NHS - free at the point of access - and then could be the thin edge of the wedge. Given the continuing rise in admissions, I do think bold measures will need to b taken, but there may be more effective/less potentially bureacratic approaches to consider.