Alcohol Policy UK

Events & dates 2017: Alcohol Research UK last chance, New Directions, HIN prevention & treatment, KBS & more

Selected alcohol events and dates forthcoming in 2017:

Alcohol Research UK 2017 conference and Early Career Symposium

Last chance for Alcohol Research UK's 2017 conference, ‘Working together: people, practice and policy in alcohol research’, which takes place on Wednesday, 5th April 2017 in London. The event will explore co-production and collaboration in alcohol research and practice and consider how sharing experience can help to bridge the gaps between research and practice. Further details here or see here for the Alcohol Research UK Postgraduate and Early Career Symposium 2017 which takes place on Tuesday, 4th April 2017 in London.

New Directions 2017 & inaugural 'Addiction Theory Network' Symposium 

Selected alcohol events and dates forthcoming in 2017:

Alcohol Research UK 2017 conference and Early Career Symposium

Last chance for Alcohol Research UK's 2017 conference, ‘Working together: people, practice and policy in alcohol research’, which takes place on Wednesday, 5th April 2017 in London. The event will explore co-production and collaboration in alcohol research and practice and consider how sharing experience can help to bridge the gaps between research and practice. Further details here or see here for the Alcohol Research UK Postgraduate and Early Career Symposium 2017 which takes place on Tuesday, 4th April 2017 in London.

New Directions 2017 & inaugural 'Addiction Theory Network' Symposium 

DoH advise on alcohol labelling messages: will producers respond?

The Department of Health (DoH) have released a document outlining how it would like to see the revised recommended drinking guidelines communicated on alcohol packaging and containers.

The release says the DoH 'worked closely with industry' on the document, which may be regarded as necessary given there are no statutory requirements for the labelling of units or responsible drinking messages. However calls for legislation to require products to list units, health warnings and more recently, calories, have been made at national and EU level, but with self-regulatory frameworks remaining the status quo.

The release follows the Government's response to consultation on the revised guidelines of 14 units per week announced in 2016, and outlines 'the core elements of the guidelines that we would wish to see communicated to the public'. It details how each of the key detailed full guideline messages are suggested to appear in concise form (see below).

Alcohol licensing: a guide for public health teams

A Public Health England (PHE) web resource outlines the objectives, legal framework and local practice examples of public health involvement in local licensing.

In 2013 changes to the Licensing Act saw public health included as a 'responsible authority', intended to encourage participation in local licensing processes. However unlike in Scotland, the protection of public health is not a licensing objective, so any representations relating to new premises or those under review need to relate to the existing objectives.

The web resource includes chapters on:

• Licensing and public health
• Licensing policy
• Cumulative impact policies
• Applications for licenses
• Data and information tools
• Primary research to support the licensing process
• Further information

IAS Alcohol Pricing factsheet & the future for MUP?

The Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) have updated its factsheet on alcohol pricing as health groups seek to continue highlighting the importance of price in addressing alcohol harms.

Download 'The price of alcohol' [pdf] here or see a collection of pricing documents and research here.

Chapters covered in the report include:

• What determines the price of a drink?
• How much do people pay for alcohol?
• How has the cost of alcohol changed over time?
• How does the price of alcohol affect consumption?
• How does the price of alcohol affect levels of harm?
• The theory of alcohol taxation

Cider duty consultation announced: will 'white cider' survive?

A consultation on duty for cider under 7.5% ABV and still wine between 5.5% and 8.5% ABV has been launched by the treasury, as promised in the recent spring budget.

The consultation states the government believes alcohol duties should be related to the alcoholic strength of drinks and that the 'intention is to target ‘white’ ciders, and to avoid any impacts on traditional cider makers'. An end to white ciders has long been called for by public health groups and homeless charities citing the adverse impacts of such products on vulnerable groups.

Public Health and licensing in Scotland: tackling 'overprovison'?

New research exploring the experiences of public health professionals involved in local Scottish licensing details the complexities and challenges involved in efforts to see health considered in licensing decisions.

Uniquely, Scotland has a public health objective within its licensing legislation, which applies particularly to the concept of  'overprovision' of premises in a given area. However, experiences on the ground reveal challenges in both interpreting and applying the legislation, including the extent to which public health evidence is seen as relevant in the context of local decision-making.

Findings bulletins: assessing England's treatment, AA effectiveness, recovery, women's day & more

Recent bulletins from the Findings drug and alcohol bank: 

How do treatment systems in England measure up?

English treatment systems perform at least as well as other countries on a number of measures, but have a considerably higher rate of drug-related deaths than elsewhere in Europe. As well as pursuing harm reduction and recovery, this Public Health England report stresses the importance of social integration as an objective.

Does AA really help drinkers stop?

For Britain 12-step fellowships offer a way to reconcile shrunken resources with the desire to get more patients safely out of treatment. Accounting for the self-selection bias which has obscured AA’s impacts, this synthesis of US trials finds that attending more meetings after treatment boosts abstinence. Why then is research equivocal on whether promoting attendance significantly improves drink-related outcomes?

Budget 2017: alcohol duty to rise with inflation & consultation on white cider

The Chancellor's spring budget announced duty across all alcohol categories is to rise in line with inflation, also announcing a consultation on a new rate for cider under 7.5% ABV in view of high strength white ciders. A potential duty change for still wine between 5.5% and 8.5% ABV will also be included in the consultation, though the rationale is less clear.

On the face of it, both industry groups calling for duty cuts and public health group calling for rises may appear disappointed, but health interests will hope the consultation results in action that will significantly curb 'pocket money' high strength white ciders. Alcohol bodies and other groups have called for an end to such drinks, often cited to be consumed mainly by those with alcohol dependency and reportedly sold for as little as 16p per unit of alcohol.

Local Alcohol Profiles for England 2017: sales, premises & drinking data

Further data has been released for the Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE), providing geographical data on off-sales, licensed premises and adult drinking. Public Health England recently released LAPE data on hospital admissions and mortality to support local level activity.

Key findings include:

• 25.7% of adults in England regularly drank over 14 units per week in 2011-2014.
• 15.5% of adults in England abstained from drinking alcohol in 2011-2014.
• 16.5% of adults in England were binge drinking on their heaviest day from 2011-2014.
• 10.6 units of alcohol per adult per week were sold through the off-trade in England in 2014.

News & updates February 2017: tax & white cider, lunchtime drinking ban, dry 2017, nightcaps & more

Selected media stories since the January roundup: 

Ahead of the government's spring Budget this week, both 'sides' campaigning for changes in alcohol duty have been seeing some coverage of their calls. The Alcohol Health Alliance and other health groups have been calling for a raise in duties relating to cheap white cider, which were implicated in the recent death of a 16 year old girl - The Mirror.