Alcohol Policy UK

Latest IAS Alcohol Alert available

The final 'Alcohol Alert' magazine of 2009 has been released by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS), reporting and commenting on some of the main goings on over the last quarter. All articles can be accessed individually from the above link.

Mandatory code 'still on track' as January alcohol sales approach

According to the Morning Advertiser, pub giant JD Wetherspoon will be running a 'January sale', with the 99p pint deal reportedly extended to glasses of wine and shots of gin. Interstingly the Advertiser also reports the Home Office have recently said that 'the Government is committed to the mandatory code and plans to deliver it remain on track'. The assurances follow a number of reports that the mandatory code would be scrapped, including most recently in The Observer.

However it is the off-trade retailers recieving the most attention, with recent  'alcohol cheaper than water' press stories, such as this one in The Times. The coverage follows research into supermarket prices and calls from Alcohol Concern that supermarket discounting is undermining attempts to curb binge drinking. The House of Commons Health Committe are set to join the Cheif Medical Officer (CMO) and other health groups in calling for minimum pricing measures next year. However public opinion and industry groups continue to oppose or question such measures, a recent survey reports most people claim they wouldn't change their drinking habits if prices were rasied (full report here).

Hospital admissions data 08/09

The finalised 08/09 NI 39 hospital admissions data was published by the North West Public Health Observatory's (NWPHO) Local Alchol Profiles for England (LAPE) earlier this month. Their December E-bulletin highlighted some key findings in comparison with the previous year’s figures:

• The latest figures for the National Alcohol Indicator (NI39) show that there were 863,257 admissions to hospital for alcohol-related harm in England in 2007/08, an 8% increase from the previous year or an additional 176 alcohol related admissions every day.
• The numbers of people being admitted to hospital in 2007/08 due to alcohol rose by 6% to 561,642 individuals (an increase of 31,641 people).
• Deaths in 2005-2007 from chronic liver disease increased by 2.8% for men to 10,928 individuals and by 2.4% for women to 6,293 individuals.
• Claims for Incapacity Benefit (IB)/ Severe Disablement Allowance due to alcoholism rose by 2.6% to 42,000 in November 2008, while deaths from transport accidents attributable to alcohol in 2005-2007 fell by 2%, or a decrease of 59 deaths from the previous year.
• The LAs with the highest levels of alcohol-related harm overall are in the North West, while those LAs with the lowest levels are mainly in the south of England.

The NWPHO will soon publish an 'Alcohol Bulletin series' of alcohol segmentation reports in January 2010. They will provide details of alcohol-related attitudes and concerns, alcohol consumption and related hospital admissions by geodemographic segmentation systems (for example, Health ACORN, Mosaic, People and Places, and Office for National Statistics Area). These reports will provide evidence to help identify those groups most at risk from alcohol-related harms and to develop targeted interventions.

'Local Routes: Guidance for developing alcohol treatment pathways' published

The Department of Health (DoH) have released 'Local Routes: Guidance for developing alcohol treatment pathways' to assist commissioners and alcohol leads in the development of integrated care pathways. Access it here via the DoH website.

The document builds on 'Signs for Improvement: Commissioning interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm' released earlier this year. See the Alcohol Learning Centre's commissioning page to access this and other resources to assist the commissioning and development of local alcohol services and interventions. 

Brief Intervention conference presentations available

A large collection of presentations covering the most up to date international research, learning and developments in the in field of brief interventions for alcohol are now available.

See here for the presentations and posters from the 2 day 6th Conference of INEBRIA, which took place on the 8th and 9th October 2009 in Newcastle (UK).

INEBRIA is the International Network on Brief Interventions for Alcohol Problems, and organises annual conferences to promote and share learning on brief interventions.

In England, the Department of Health refer to brief interventions as Identification and Brief Advice (IBA) - resources and guidance can be found here on the Alcohol Learning Centre.

A short online survey on IBA commissioning and delivery issues is currently open to practioners or commissioners involved in IBA in England, being carried out by the AERC Alcohol Academy.

Controversial local alcohol campaign's viral clip removed from YouTube

A video created by by NHS Derbyshire to warn young people of the risks of binge-drinking has been removed from YouTube for being too controversial. The clip received more than 15,000 hits in the eight days it was on available on the famous video sharing site.

The short video, called Bloody Mary, shows a group of young men jeering at a drunk woman who urinates in the street, then falls over and appears close to unconsciousness. It is still available to view on the campaign website www.cocktalesmix.co.uk

A consultant in public health at the primary care trust, said:

"Cocktales is a unique campaign aimed at showing the dangers of drinking to young people in a very visual way.

"This video does have a dark humour in it which is designed to capture the imagination and show what can happen if you overstep the mark on a night out.

"It has been banned from YouTube because of its content, which we realise some people may find controversial, but we still want young people to view it at www.cocktalesmix.co.uk."

For more see this local news story.

Earlier this month guidance on alcohol consumption for parents children and young people was released by the Chief Medical Officer. Consultation is also open on new drug and alcohol guidance for schools.

What awaits the white cider market as White lightning de-listed and tax rises loom?

Heineken plans to de-list its infamous 'White lightning' cider brand, reportedly to 'reinforce its stance on responsible drinking and drive more value into the cider market'. The news is likely to be welcomed by groups and organisations who have spoken out against the damage of high-strength white ciders, as we previously discussed here.

Over recent years homeless charity Thames Reach have campaigned  against high-strength beers and ciders, prompting a recent call to the Chancellor from Labour MP Martin Linton to increase the tax on such drinks. According to the Morning Advertiser, Linton told MPs that these “extraordinarily powerful and destructive drinks” are the “most dangerous addictive drug”, based on information from Thames Reach. He also stated:

“It is a fact that the great majority of sales of super-strength lager and cider are to alcohol-dependent people who are often vulnerable and homeless,” said Linton, during a private members debate in Parliament. “For them, the defining attraction is not the taste, but the price per unit of alcohol. Super-strength affects not only health, but behaviour.” He also pointed out that that a 500ml can of super-strength lager contained 4.5 units - more than the daily recommended guidelines for men.

However there have been objections to further tax rises on ciders, which currently have a lower tax rate. This seems to raise an issue of lack of tax differential between more 'traditional cider' (i.e made with apples), and the high-strength 'white ciders' (reported as having nothing to do with apples - Wikipedia reports it as made from 'fermented corn syrup'). According to Cider UK blog, 'the duty on a mass produced white cider at 7.5% is currently only around a quarter of that on beer of a weaker strength'. They ask 'What are the implications for high quality, 100% juice, craft ciders? At present these have the same alcohol duty advantage as the mass produced industrial imposters'. See here for a summary of alcohol duty rates.

Nonetheless duty on alcohol will still rise (or not fall when VAT goes up, as explained here) and the Conservatives have pledged targeted tax hikes at high-strength beers and ciders. However organisations such as Alcohol Concern, whilst welcoming increased taxes on such high-strength drinks, have urged that this will not stop supermarkets continuing to sell alcohol below cost price as a 'loss leader', instead advocating a minimum price approach.

There is some further interesting history to White Lightning; in 2004 producers stopped selling the special value 3 litre bottles which caused a dramatic 70% drop in sales, followed by rises in sales of the remaining own brand versions. See the 'Cheap Strong Ciders' section on the Wikipedia Cider page for more.

Commons Health Committe to call for minimum pricing

The House of Commons Health Committee are set to release a report on the 7th January 2010, calling for minimum pricing and other measures to address alcohol related harm. The report comes following the Committee's alcohol inquiry which has heard evidence and representation from a wide range of interests from medical professionals to industry representatives and retailers.

According to this Guardian story, the Committee's MPs:

• claim that the drinks industry has not been properly reined in for its promotion of alcohol and demand new regulations and monitoring to deter "irresponsible" promotions, such as happy hours;
• criticise supermarkets for contributing to alcohol-related harm by selling drink at less than cost price as a loss leader to encourage customers to shop with them, and condemn the sale of alcohol in some places for just 10p a unit;
• highlight young people's vulnerability to excess alcohol by saying that drink is involved in 25% of deaths involving young men aged 16 to 24, through car crashes, accidents and violence, for example;
• suggest greater rights for local councils and residents affected by drink-related anti-social behaviour to challenge the right of premises with poor records to hold a licence;
• urge the Treasury to reduce the duty on drinks which contain less than 2.8% alcohol by volume, to encourage greater consumption of lower-strength wines and beers;
• and endorse the use of other forms of action on pricing as well as minimum unit pricing.

According to the Morning Advertiser, the committee's three Conservative members opposed the call for minimum pricing as of their party line. Instead the Conservatives have pledged to target taxes at 'cheap drinks that fuel anti-social behaviour' and 'tear up the Government's lax licensing regime'.

The Scottish National Party are currently attempting to bring in minimum pricing north of the border, though are reportedly unlikely to succeed without the support of the opposition parties. In England & Wales, Gordon Brown has opposed calls from the CMO and other health bodies, though the bill to enact a mandatory licensing code was recently passed. 

Conferences: 'Student alcohol (mis)use' and 'Drinking Spaces and Places – Examining who drinks alcohol, where and why?'

Two interesting and inexpensive events have come to our attention:

Seminar - 'Drinking spaces and places: Examining who drinks alcohol, where and why?' - Wednesday 10 February 2010

'The impact of drinking alcohol in excess is seen both in terms of individual health and disorder in public spaces. This seminar focuses on why policy levers need to recognise the importance of where and how people drink.'

Tickets (including refreshments): full £60, academics/members £40, students £15

See here for full details of download the full programme here.

Student alcohol (mis)use conference - 30th March 2010

This event is being organised by the University of Northampton, costing £40 to attend including lunch and materials. See here for full details. The organisers are currently accepting submissions and poster presentations and have declared themes of the conference will cover:

• students’ alcohol-related perceptions and beliefs
• the nature of students’ (mis)use of alcohol
• the culture of student drinking and ‘binge’ drinking in general
• policies and strategies in managing student drinking and its effects
• alcohol issues within educational institutions and their local communities
• the community and regional context of student use of alcohol
• therapeutic approaches to students with alcohol problems 

Guidance on the consumption of alcohol by children and young people: A report by the Chief Medical Officer

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) has published alcohol guidance for parents, children and young people. The guidance has received significant media attention, largely as it recommends that children do not touch alcohol until at least 15 years old, and that even then it should be in an environment supervised by a parent or guardian. Consultation on the proposals received overall support earlier this year.

The guidance makes 5 key recommendations:

• children should have an alcohol-free childhood - if children drink alcohol, it shouldn't be before they are 15 years old
• if young people aged 15 to 17 years old drink alcohol, it should always be with the guidance of a parent or carer or in a supervised environment
• parents and young people should be aware that drinking, even at age 15 or older, can be hazardous to health and not drinking is the healthiest option
• if children aged 15 to 17 drink alcohol they should do so infrequently and on no more than one day a week - they should never drink more than the adult daily limits recommended by the NHS
• the importance of parental influence on children's alcohol use should be communicated to parents, carers and professionals
• support services should be made available for children and young people who have alcohol-related problems and their parents

Professor Sir Liam Donaldson said: "The science is clear. Drinking particularly at a young age, a lack of parental supervision, exposing children to drink-fuelled events and failing to engage with them as they grow up are the root causes from which our country’s serious alcohol problem has developed."

It was also announced this week Sir Donaldson was retiring, but would continue to push for a minimum price on alcohol. The CMO has won praise for his work on a number of public health issues including championing the smoking ban.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is currently undertaking consultation on new drug and alcohol guidance for schools which seeks to implement some of the CMOs recommendations. The guidance includes extensive information relating to role of schools in providing education on drugs and alcohol; important as the delivery of Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) may become compulsory for schools in 2011.