Alcohol Policy UK

News & updates Feb 2012: MPs debate alcohol policy; Scotland's 45 minimum pricing impact revised

Alcohol strategy gets Westminster debate

A Westminster debate on alcohol policy and the forthcoming strategy has been highlighted by Alcohol Concern - see part 1 and part 2 of the debate which includes statements from MPs across the parties.

Public health Minister Anne Milton said the forthcoming national strategy included ambition to "remove a significant number of units of alcohol from the UK market through changes in how alcohol is produced and sold". See a Morning Advertiser (MA) report or the the Daily Mail's take. See recent news on lower strength drinks here.

After calling for the debate, Dr Sarah Wollaston, a Conservative MP who has previously called for tougher regulatory and pricing measures re-iterated the case for stronger action. An open letter from health groups has also asked MPs to support minimum pricing following Alcohol Concern's call on the public to push MPs to support it.

Scotland

The University of Sheffield have produced an updated review into the likely impacts of minimum pricing in Scotland (report here). It suggests a slightly smaller effect on consumption than first estimated, but would still be expected to save thousands of lives and millions of pounds. A minimum price of 45p per unit of alcohol would reduce consumption by 4.3% rather than the previously estimated 4.7%. See BBC and Guardian reports.

Controversy over whether the European Commission had given a supportive indication to the Scottish Health Secretary over the legality of minimum pricing within EU law is outlined in a BBC report.

A Scottish Government alcohol campaign is encouraging women to 'drop a glass size', warning of the risks of regular consumption, similar to England's recent Change4Life campaign. A ‘drinking time machine’ app is also part of the campaign.

Other news

Portman Group Chief Executive Henry Ashworth, Chair of the Responsibility Deal’s Alcohol Network (RDAN), has said the Responsibility Deal will suffer without health partners involvement - see MA story.

National Pubwatch has teamed up with drinks giant Diageo to launch an awards scheme to recognise responsible drinking - MA report. The introduction of the Late Night Levy could cost the industry as much as £25 million according to the Home Office consultation, the MA reports.

Liverpool may go for local minimum pricing, following in the footsteps of Manchester hoping to introduce it via local by-law changes. Ireland could also be going for minimum pricing according to the MA.

Alcohol Concern urges action on minimum pricing ahead of new national alcohol strategy

Alcohol Concern are calling on the public to urge MPs to push for minimum pricing ahead of the forthcoming national alcohol strategy. Alcohol Concern state:

The next few weeks will be our last chance to influence the shape of the alcohol strategy, which will shape public policy on reducing alcohol harm for years to come. We must act now to counteract the lobbying power of the drinks industry and major retailers.

The Prime Minister has come out in support of minimum pricing, but the Secretary of State for Health has not- this is the moment when we need MPs to call for minimum pricing and help ensure that it becomes government policy.

Up until now, the government has relied largely on voluntary measures by the drinks industry to reduce consumption. Given that the turnover and profitability of the drinks industry is entirely reliant on maintaining or increasing alcohol consumption, there is a clear conflict of interest involved in this approach.

Alcohol Concern are urging people to write to their MP to call for minimum pricing, stating the business case for action. The charity have provided a list of key facts and possible questions to include and a minimum pricing briefing paper. They are also promoting a Twitter hashtag #ActNowOnAlcohol

The Prime Minister David Cameron recently instructed Whitehall officials to look at minimum pricing options according to a Daily Telegraph report. Cameron has repeatedly spoken out on the issue of cheap alcohol, but the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley prefers voluntary action through the controversial Responsibility Deal. The public appear divided on the subject.

Minimum pricing has been at the forefront of the national alcohol policy debate, particularly since the release of research from the University of Sheffield modelling the likely benefits. Supporters cite the link between rising consumption with the falling relative price of alcohol.

However opponents of minimum pricing, such as sections of the alcohol industry and retailers, argue minimum pricing is a blunt measure and could contravene EU legislation. Scotland is currently seeking to introduce a minimum price and so could soon test this, whilst the IFS advise lobbying for EU law changes to allow tax restructuring to achieve a minimum pricing effect.

A 'below cost ban' is due to come in under forthcoming Licensing changes, but  the ban is not expected to not expected to affect prices under a 'Duty + VAT' definition of cost. See here for information on why a below cost ban is not minimum pricing and further reports.

Lower strength drinks heralded as Stella Artois, Becks and Budweiser switch to 4.8% & 'mid-strength' 2.8% Guinness announced

Brewing giants AB InBev will reduce the strength of popular lagers in the UK from the end of this month to keep line with "evolving UK category trends". The world's largest brewer will reduce the % Alcohol By Volume (ABV) of Stella Artois, Budweiser and Becks from 5% ABV to 4.8% ABV. See Daily Mail report.

The move will reportedly save AB inBev up to £8.6 million a year in duty on off-trade sales alone, but follows an £11.6 million decline in Stella Artois sales. Sales of 'triple filtered' 4% ABV Stella have also suffered after an initial good start. The news comes after the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group recently enjoyed a tasting session of lower strength drinks. But brewers have been suffering from the effects of rising costs, with off-trade beer sales reportedly plummeting faster than on-trade sales for the first time in 15 years.

Daigeo has also just announced a 2.8% mid-strength Guinness to be released for the off-trade. By dropping from the standard 4.1%, the new line will take advantage of the 50% duty discount on beers with an abv of 2.8% or below, introduced in October last year. High-strength beers of 7.5% abv and above must now pay an additional 25% tax. Under the Responsibility Deal, Heineken is expected to reduce the alcohol content of Strongbow by 1% (currently 5.3%) by 2013.

Whether or not such changes in the strength of drinks can have significant impacts on public health, the structure of taxation and pricing levers will remain central to alcohol policy debates. Recently the IFS called for taxation over minimum pricing approaches, and "to tax all alcohols at an equivalent rate per unit" which "would require policy action at the EU level which the Government should pursue."

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) however have continued to speak out against the the alcohol duty escalator after the 2011 budget confirmed the Government would continue with alcohol taxed at 2% above the rate of inflation (RPI). The BBPA highlight duty on beer has increased by 60% since 1995, compared with a 15% increase in duty on spirits, and instead call for a tax system which encourages consumption of lower strength drinks in pubs as supervised environments.

Alcohol Policy Comment: The Grocer-isation of Alcohol Brands & policy contradictions

In this guest post, Chris Hackley, a Professor of Marketing at the University of London discusses 'The Grocer-isation of Alcohol Brands and the Contradictions of Alcohol Policy in the UK':

In the UK, the government first issued ‘safe’ alcohol consumption guidelines in 1987. Coincidentally, the 1980s also saw the first UK advertising campaign for alcohol to use imagery previously only seen in pre-school TV programming. The bar-cruising, wise-cracking, girl-chasing Hofmeister Bear (an actor in a trilby-wearing bear suit) became an icon of the times and a symbol of the lager-isation of Britain’s nightlife. Some 24 years later, doctors in the North East recently reported a 400% rise in hospital admissions for advanced liver disease among people in their early thirties, against a UK rise of 61%. 

Coincidence? Clearly, it would be going too far to blame the UK’s alcohol problem on John Webster, advertising agency BMP DDB’s resident creative genius. For Webster, it was simply the case that his Honey Monster sold a lot of Sugar Puffs, so why not do it with beer? What is more, today, the UK advertising regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority, would probably disallow the campaign on the grounds that the imagery appeals to children.

But the juxtaposition of the two events, the Hofmeister Bear campaign and the UK government issuing drinking guidelines, neatly illustrates a contradiction in UK alcohol policy we are yet to resolve. That is, the intensification of alcohol marketing has grown hand-in-hand with the intensification of government-led initiatives to persuade people to drink less. While government convenes committees to ‘look into’ alcohol, children and young people have to negotiate a culture in which alcohol is celebrated as never before. Alcohol brands adorn major sports events and team strips; mixer drinks, which boomed in the 1980s as the notorious ‘alco-pops’, sell 40% proof vodka that tastes like fruit juice; while the country’s leading supermarket chains all treat alcohol brands as if they are normal grocery items, discounting them, promoting them heavily and stacking them in pyramids by the checkouts.     

Alcohol industry lobbyists such as the Portman Group will point to the relatively small numbers of alcohol-related deaths in the UK relative to other countries. As a nation, we do not have a generalised alcohol problem in terms of consumption per capita. But we do have unusual rates of alcohol-related disease and disorder in certain socio-demographic and age groups. The rising numbers and falling age of liver disease victims seems particularly shocking, and hints at worse to come. Under current policy, they bear the whole responsibility for their predicament. They were told to drink ‘sensibly’. They didn’t. They are, in effect, collateral damage in a battle for higher profits from alcohol sales.

Over the past three decades our policy makers have assisted the alcohol industry in shifting the emphasis from steady but unexciting pub on-sales to huge volume, highly profitable, powerfully branded, 24/7, retail off-sales. This grocer-isation of alcohol brands is the elephant in the room in UK alcohol policy debates. The paralysing policy contradiction this creates needs to be acknowledged.

Chris Hackley is Professor Marketing at the School of Management, Royal Holloway University of London. He recently appeared on Channel 4 news discussing the call to review alcohol guidelines. See here for a round up on media and policy engagement in alcohol policy issues and a collection of papers here.

News & updates Dec 2011: Scotland's multi-buy ban 'working'; minimum pricing; British Liver Trust's anger over policy; 313 DBOs so far; 'Dry bars' and 'Booze Buses'

Scotland's ban on multi-buy deals has reduced sales according to figures from retail analysts Nielsen. Sales of wine fell 5%, spirits by 3% and beer by 8% during the first eight weeks of the ban compared to 2010. See reports from the BBC and the Herald. The ban was introduced as part of The Alcohol Scotland Act which introduced new licensing laws from 1st October 2011. Measures also include a ban of multi-buy deals, alcohol advertising restrictions, Challenge 25 scheme, and a new tax on some licence holders.

Minimum pricing, also on the cards for Scotland, is explored in a recent Economist feature 'The battle of the booze', which suggest legal challenges could await both national efforts in Scotland or local approaches in England. Scottish industry figures have been speaking out on minimum pricing as 'certainly misguided, and most probably illegal'. But the Scottish Government have said its "probably not illegal", though can only be truly tested in court once enacted.

Meanwhile a national summit to build support for minimum pricing in England will take place at Manchester town hall next year. The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) are drafting a bylaw to stop the sale of alcohol below 50p a unit in local shops and businesses, but want to build a 'coalition of support' for a national approach.

Trade leaders have continued to call for a cut in VAT and also called for production costs to be included in the forthcoming 'below cost ban', which the IFS recently desribed as likely to only impact 1% of off-license units. However the IFS also advised lobbying on EU legislation to allow the re-structuring of alcohol taxation over minimum pricing.

England's Government-led policies on alcohol and public health have been branded 'a joke' by the British Liver Trust. Commenting on figures showing a 74% rise in liver cancer deaths since 1997, Chief Executive Andrew Langford said there are only "weak policies or no action at all... Almost all liver disease is preventable yet we are met with a sheer resistance to tackle it." Liver disease is the only health problem out of "the big five" - cardiovascular, respiratory, circulatory and cancers - showing an increasing trend. Alison Rogers, before leaving the British Liver Trust, also spoke out saying the Responsibility Deal was "fundamental conflict of interest".

The Home Office has reported 313 Drinking Banning Orders (DBOs) have been issued on conviction since they became available to local authorities last year - see MA report. DBOs can be put in place to stop an individual convicted on an alcohol-related offence from entering licensed premises or ban them from entering pubs in a specific area. See Home Office DBO pages for more.

Five men behind a counterfeit vodka manufacturing and bottling plant in Leicestershire were sentenced to 17 years reports the MA. One in 5 off-licenses were thought to be selling counterfeit alcohol a Staffordshire sting found. Suspected criminals were arrested after they were tricked by police who lured them in with a hoax offer of free beer - The Guardian.

Liverpool's first dry bar has opened reports the Guardian. Owners say 'Brink' is a social enterprise which actively promotes itself as a 'dry bar', not simply a cafe, and will appeal to people in recovery or simply those that want to avoid the "testosterone, drunk and drug-fuelled club and bar scene". 'Violence, abuse and vomit' was the headline for a night with the 'booze bus' medics in a recent Observer feature. 

North West appeal for Drink Wise champions

To coincide with Alcohol Awareness Week (AAW), Drink Wise North West have launched an appeal for 'Alcohol Champions' to support and lead alcohol harm reduction approaches.

To support potential champions, two new Drink Wise packs have been published:

• The Know More pack sets out the health, financial, social and crime costs in the NW, and supports professionals in building up a business case for change. With 1 in 7 people in the NW drinking at levels which put their health at risk, it's a timely reminder of the sobering consequences of alcohol misuse.

• The Do More pack encourages people to become Drink Wise Champions: to challenge themselves, their friends and colleagues to tackle alcohol harms more robustly. The pack suggests that everyone can take small but important actions to "rebalance" the heavy drinking culture in which we find ourselves. It sets out 10 key questions, such as for workplaces to ask themselves about how they manage alcohol and related problems at work. It also lists practical steps that a Champion can take, from lobbying MPs to keeping their own drink diary.

The “Do More” and “Know More” packs form the Drink Wise Champion’s Handbook, which is intended to bring together useful ideas, resources and facts for anyone who wants to make the case for reducing the damaging effects of alcohol. It has been produced by Drink Wise North West, in partnership with Our Life, North West Employers and NWIEP.

Balance speaks out on alcohol advertising targetting young people in the North East

Alcohol advertising is risking the lives and futures of children across the North East by encouraging them to drink early and more, according to a campaign launched this week by Balance, the North East Alcohol Office.

Through its ‘See What Sam Sees’ campaign Balance says it is inviting North Easterners to take a child's eye view and witness the way the alcohol industry is bombarding young people with ads which make drinkers appear popular, successful and attractive. In the region 55% of people already agree that alcohol targets under18s. 

 

The film was ruled it could not be shown on TV as it contravened the Communications Act 2003 since Balance hoped to use the ad to encourage visitors to its website to sign a petition. The petition calls on Government to introduce more meaningful regulations to stop the alcohol industry reaching children and young people through advertising.

Colin Shevills, Director of Balance said: "Our children are brought up in a world where drinking at an early age and consuming large quantities is viewed as 'normal' or 'acceptable' and alcohol advertising plays a central role in this. We need to stop the alcohol industry from recruiting its next generation of drinkers and exposing young people to £800m worth of marketing a year."

Balance is urging North Easterners to visit www.balancenortheast.co.uk and sign its petition which calls out for regulations to:

• Prevent alcohol ads from targeting children and young people
• Prevent alcohol ads from being shown on TV and in the cinema for under 18 certificate films
• Prevent alcohol ads from being shown through social networking sites
• Prevent alcohol sponsorship of sporting and youth events.

Earlier this year Alcohol Concern called for further action to address children and young people's exposure to advertising.

Report says alcohol enforcement laws are not fully used, but enforcement alone is not the solution

A new report explores whether UK laws relating to the sale and consumption of alcohol are 'fit for purpose' and are being effectively enforced. The report finds that many laws are not being fully utilised, although a variety of measures are still required to achieve alcohol harm reduction.

Download ‘Lost Orders?: Law Enforcement and Alcohol in England and Wales’ or download the Executive Summary.

The report, commissioned by the Portman Group, was authored by Dr Fiona Measham of Lancaster University and research consultant Dr Phil Hadfield. It finds that laws designed to tackle underage drinking are not being used to their maximum effect, and that enforcement is rarely actioned against consumers rather than suppliers.

In a press release, Dr Measham said that prosecuting individuals for offences such as underage drinking, proxy sales and the serving of alcohol to intoxicated persons were regarded as too expensive and time consuming to pursue. The findings appear to re-iterate past messages that the 2003 Licensing Act powers have not been fully utilised - 2009 Home Office alcohol guidance referenced evidence that crime and disorder had remained stable but powers were underused.

Dr Phil Hadfield said: “One of the main messages of our findings is that there seems little point in Government introducing new tough sounding measures to tackle alcohol-related harms in the community if these laws are not actually enforced in practice. The rush to introduce new legislation has occurred at the expense of ensuring that the laws we already have are being implemented and effectively used.”

The report emphasises the importance of partnership working, local innovation and a greater recognition of health priorities. It also highlights that "regulation works best when embedded within community focused multi-component programmes (MCPs) that encompass broader approaches to harm reduction". A comprehensive report on multi-component pogrammes to reduce alcohol-related harm was published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2007.

A factsheet on Alcohol, crime and disorder in the Night Time Economy was published last year, and a recent London event explored some current initiaives including Licensing reform.

Scotland's minimum pricing plans outlined

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has outlined its plans to introduce a minimum price per unit of alcohol. The Minimum Pricing Bill has not yet set out the proposed price but has commissioned further work by the University of Sheffield to model its likely impact. The SNP's previous attempt at a 45 pence minimum price was blocked by opposition parties when the SNP had a smaller majority.  

The Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon said: 

"We have had a wide ranging debate on alcohol pricing and there is now widespread recognition across the country of the need to tackle pricing... By setting a minimum price for a unit of alcohol, we can raise the price of the cheap supermarket white ciders, lager and value spirits sought out by problem drinkers."

The Government say the cost of alcohol consumption in Scotland is estimated to cost £3.56 billion each year, equivalent to £900 for every adult. Sturgeon said a minimum price was "not a magic bullet", but believes it will save hundreds of lives and millions of pounds over a number of years. The SNP has produced information on the effects of minimum pricing on common drinks and highlighted wide support from health groups.

But certain industry and retail bodies continued to speak out against the proposals, claiming they would breach EU competition law, increase illegal activity or trigger cross-border shopping. Opponents also repeated claims that a minimum price "would punish the responsible majority" - a line a health select committe report has said was a deliberate manipulation of the public's interpretation of the measure.

Speaking to the BBC, Sturgeon rejected claims that minimum pricing would affect responsible drinkers. She said the SNP were not "anti-alcohol", but it was wrong that a teenager could buy a potentially fatal amount of alcohol for less than £5. Brewer and trade body Greene King have also supported the move in expectation that it would help pubs who have lost out to cheap supermarket sales. See a selection of responses for and against the proposals here.

See further news reports including a BBC analysis, a Q&A on the proposals, and BBC news feature.

In England a minimum price is not supported by the Coalition Government who have emphasised voluntary action through the Responsibility Deal, but have committed to a 'below cost ban'. However the ban is not expected to affect prices under a 'Duty + VAT' definition of cost - ASDA who claimed to not to sell at below 'cost' recently came under fire for selling Budweiser at around 16 pence per unit. Manchester is attempting to bring in a regional minimum price via a local bye-law.

Drinkaware release 'In:tuition' life-skills based teaching resource and parents section

The industry funded body Drinkaware has released a 'life-skills based interactive teaching resource' called In:tuition, which includes a series of lesson plans and supporting resources.

A press release said the "cross-curricular programme builds the esteem, confidence and decision-making skills of students aged 9 to 14 so they can make more informed decisions about a range of issues – including alcohol, sex and relationships, personal finance, health and civic responsibility." The resource itself says: "The programme aims to build young people's confidence, personal and social skills and help them explore how they make decisions and what might influence them".

Drinkaware say the average age of first unsupervised drink is just under 14 years old so ensuring young people have life-skills from an early age can help them make responsible choices. It claims 'life-skilled' based approaches are effective based on a Cochrane review of school-based alcohol misuse prevention programmes. A recent Findings bulletin assessed the evidence that schools-based prevention worked best when it didn't target alcohol.

Drinkaware have also released a parents section, which "will help explain why, when and how to start talking to your child about alcohol, whatever their age. It will also give you the facts you need to feel more confident in keeping up an ongoing dialogue about responsible drinking throughout your child’s teenage years." It also says "the more information your child has, and the earlier they get it, the better." See reports from the BBC and The Sun.

The NHS had previously ran a campaign called 'Why let drink decide?' to encourage parents to talk to their children about alcohol, but the webpages have been closed. NHS Choices offers some guidlines and FAQs for parents. CMO guidance advises an alcohol-free childhood as best.