An Alcohol Charter has been released by a cross-party parliamentary group and thirty organisations calling for the forthcoming national alcohol strategy to reflect the PHE evidence review for reducing alcohol harm.
Download the Alcohol Charter [pdf] here.
The Charter includes a call to increase alcohol duties by 1% above RPI in order to provide £100 million ring-fenced for alcohol treatment services which are currently "in crisis" according to a recent report. It also makes key calls to improve support for those in need, measures to protect public health and actions to address alcohol-related crime and disorder, attracting some media attention.
The Charter comes as the Government reportedly formulates a new national alcohol strategy, calling for it to:
- Be based on the evidence of what works to reduce alcohol harm as outlined in the PHE alcohol evidence review.
- Tackle the increased availability of excessively cheap alcohol.
- Empower the general public to make fully informed decisions about their drinking.
- Provide adequate support for both dependent and non-dependent drinkers.
- Set out the Government’s intention to reduce harmful drinking, tackle health inequalities, improve family and community resilience and ensure the UK has a healthier, better informed relationship with alcohol. It will do this through evidence-based policy and targeted investment.
Dr Richard Piper, Chief Executive of the charity formed by the merger of Alcohol Concern and Alcohol Research UK, said:
“The need to reduce alcohol harm is urgent. Our liver wards are overflowing. Over 200,000 children in the UK live with one or more alcohol-dependent parent or carer. In fact, almost every member of society is affected by alcohol harm, whether through violence, lost productivity at work, and increased costs and pressure for the emergency services, courts and prisons.
“And it will only get worse as alcohol treatment services are in crisis, leaving those struggling with alcohol with no support. That is why we are calling for an alcohol treatment levy; increasing alcohol duties by 1% above RPI – equivalent to just 3p more on the average pint of beer – would provide £100 million to improve services, help families and reduce costs to the NHS by up to £300 million.
“Alcohol harm is avoidable. This Alcohol Charter provides the Government with practical, workable measures to include in the upcoming Alcohol Strategy, including the treatment levy, that will reduce alcohol harm and improve people’s lives across the country.”
Will the Charter see success?
Those seeking alcohol policies in line with PHE's evidence review are likely to consider a need for realistic expectations regarding the forthcoming strategy, potentially seeing such advocacy as a matter of influencing policy as much as possible against various competing views or interests. Minimum pricing for instance already appears to be off the table according to a recent parliamentary answer in which a minister said "the new strategy will not include a commitment to introduce minimum unit pricing in England at this time", but that PHE would review the impact in Scotland following its introduction this year.
As such, a treatment levy may have been chosen as a more realistic ambition, potentially offering both a much needed boost for the treatment sector and a political win for a Government perhaps increasingly under pressure to address the social impacts of austerity measures. Raising alcohol duties even for general revenue purposes remains a hard-fought policy area with a number of alcohol industry bodies carrying out well-resourced campaigns to freeze or cut duties. A current campaign to cut beer duty has been set in the context of saving pubs, though it has been attacked as a front for high volume brewers and supermarkets as the real beneficiaries of duty cuts. The Charter calls for 'a comprehensive review of alcohol duties in preparation for a post-Brexit taxation structure that better reflects alcohol strength across categories and addresses anomalies between categories'.
Other calls include policy changes such as a reduction in the drink-drive limit where many may feel the evidence is clear but does not align with the Government's reluctance towards legislative changes on alcohol policy. Such national policy measures may be considered a waiting game of sorts, though the challenges of winning arguments on more complex issues such as on alcohol marketing may also be considered slow burners. Similarly, licensing legislation remains an area in which many feel there are clear opportunities to improve the current statute in order to reduce harms, including via the introduction of a public health objective and attention to the growing issue of online sales and home deliveries as called for in the Charter.
In 2013 an "independent" alcohol strategy was released by a coalition of organisations from across the UK making similar calls for policies in line with the evidence base. It followed the release of the last national Government Alcohol Strategy in 2012, most notable for its short-lived commitment to minimum pricing, later u-turned amidst a consultation controversy reportedly influenced by alcohol industry interests. In 2015 a report released by the Alliance for Useful Evidence explored the extent to which alcohol policies across the UK nations are evidence-based. Whilst finding favour for Scotland's approach, it reported the UK Government made inconsistent use of evidence and was the most engaged with the alcohol industry - an issue that has continued to generate controversy following the recent partnership between Drinkaware and PHE.
For a further look at current alcohol policy issues, see recent posts on alcohol policy questions for the UK or lobbying, policy & politics: implications for the new strategy?
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