Alcohol Policy UK

IAS Alert March 2019: SHAAP Women's football sponsor, Scottish alcohol policy, marketing & more

The latest Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) Alcohol Alert: March 2019 is now available (here for PDF version). Read the editorial here and articles below:

• COVER STORY – SHAAP becomes sponsor of Scottish Women’s Football
• How alcohol companies are using International Women’s Day to sell more drinks to women
• Scottish Labour touts new alcohol tax ahead of spring conference
• Scottish Government urges drinkers to ‘Count 14’
• The CSR doesn’t fall far from the industry
• Creating alcohol labelling chaos
• Ireland: Drink-driving figures slide into reverse
• Marketing linked to youth drinking
• Non-drinkers may still suffer from alcohol
• Ban on duty-free drinks during flights
• Computer says ‘no’: Volvo tech aims to stall drink drivers
• Alcohol, are we kidding ourselves?
• HMRC awarded for tackling alcohol fraud at source
• Lifetime risk of drinking measured in cigarettes
• ALCOHOL SNAPSHOT – Youth drinking in Nordic countries: falling everywhere, but substantial differences remain between countries

'Count 14' NHS Scotland campaign & debate on the future of alcohol guidelines

NHS Scotland has launched a new campaign to promote awareness of the recommended guidelines, whilst the journal Addiction has published a set of open access commentaries debating how drinking guidelines should be developed and communicated.

The new 'count 14' campaign follows several years of regular debate about alcohol health risks and their communication since the revised guidelines of 14 units per week, spread over three days or more, were announced by the Chief Medical Officer in 2016. Whilst based on epidemiological evidence indicating drinking at around the guideline level broadly reflects a 1% increased risk of dying from an alcohol-related condition over a lifetime, issues raised range from the interpretation of the available evidence itself through to how such messages should form policy or behaviour change approaches.

Portman Group release new code of practice: labelling changes ahead?

The alcohol industry body the Portman Group, which oversees aspects of alcohol marketing self-regulation, has published the sixth version of its Code of Practice on the Naming, Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks.

The code applies to alcohol promoted or marketed by producers in the UK and joint promotions with retailers from September 2019. Changes to the code include an overall principle of not appealing to vulnerable groups, whilst products should not cause serious or widespread offence, suggest any association with illegal behaviour, or claim to have mind-altering qualities or suggest that it will change mood or behaviour.

News & updates January 2019: airline 'double standards', pubs, Dry January, gin & more

Selected media stories since the December 2018 round up:

Airlines are not serious about tackling alcohol-related problems on flights, according to research by Which?Travel, which puts Ryanair top for disruptive behaviour. Which? say one in ten passengers experienced bad behaviour on flights in the past year, yet many flight companies still seek to maximise onboard alcohol sales.

An easyJet flight attendant spoke to Which? anonymously, saying airlines only pay ‘lip service’ as airlines encourage staff to push alcohol sales, whilst reporting drunk or disorderly behaviour can mean unpaid hours of sitting around waiting to fill in additional paperwork. Closely behind Ryanair in the bad behaviour table was Thomas Cook, followed by Tui then Easyjet. The government is currently consulting on whether airports should remain exempt from the Licensing Act.

Pubs and policy in 2019?

Pubs look set to continue to be a source of interest within alcohol policy debates in 2019, in part owing to their perceived role amongst some as part of a healthier drinking culture and shift away from cheap off-trade sales.

Pubs have however been in decline since the 1980s, with current estimates suggesting 18 pubs are closing every week, and 1 in 4 having closed since 2008 according to ONS pub statistics released last year.

Dry January in 2019: still in vogue, but still facing questions

It seems 2019 is to be another strong year for Dry January, with over four million people expected to take part according to Alcohol Change UK. However the campaign continues to face criticisms from some perhaps unexpected quarters.

Alcohol Change UK emphasise that going dry for the month leads people to drink less year-round, responding to the commonly raised issue of whether taking part may lead to more drinking pre or post January, with some arguing year round moderate drinking messages are preferable. Alcohol Change UK say new unpublished data on 2018 participants bolsters previous research by the University of Sussex which suggested 70% of risky drinking participants were still drinking less six months on. Participants also reported a wide range of other health and social benefits including saving money, better sleep and losing weight.

Can duty cuts save pubs? Lobby groups target 2018 budget

Its no secret that pub numbers have been in decline for decades, but less clear is the role duty and tax policies may have played. Ahead of the 2018 budget, a number of industry-led campaigns have again been vying for the Chancellor's attention in calling for freezes on alcohol duties.

However as seen in the run up to previous budgets, questions over who really gains and who loses from alcohol duty freezes have been raised, with some stating that cuts or freezes actually harm pubs. Whilst clear or publicly available evidence may be lacking, some have pointed out that cuts and freezes to beer duty have seen falls in supermarket prices, but actually rises in pub prices. During the duty escalator period of 2008-2013 (for beer) the rising gap between pub and supermarket beer prices appeared to have been halted, as put forward in an IAS briefing on 'The rising affordability of alcohol' [pdf] and seemingly supported by evidence on tax changes in a 2012 RAND report.

Alcohol Charter calls for evidence based national strategy

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.

News & updates September 2018: Labour pledge hospital alcohol teams, drink-drive limit questioned, health, pubs & more

Selected media stories since the August update:

Alcohol treatment figures are falling despite record numbers of people with dependency, reports The Guardian. The figures come as MP Jon Ashworth pledges Labour would fund an alcohol care team in every district hospital at a cost of £13.5 million, though would result in savings of £40 million to the NHS. Figures suggest that at least 41 English hospitals do not currently have an alcohol care team in place - The Metro.

Drink-drive limits are too high suggests a BBC report. In England, Wales or Northern Ireland, it says 'you can drink a surprising amount of alcohol before you go above the current drink-drive limits'. However even within the limits - 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood- drinkers are up 13 times more likely to kill someone than a driver with a zero BAC. The drink-drive limit is the highest in Europe with most countries at 50mg per 100ml. "The government currently has no immediate plans to lower the drink-drive limit" a Government spokesperson said.

IAS Alert September 2018: cheap alcohol calls, FASD, treatment levy, Diageo & more

The latest Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) Alcohol Alert: September 2018 is now available (here for PDF version). Read the editorial here and articles below:

• COVER STORY – Postcard campaign on cheap drink launched
• FASD a ‘hidden epidemic’
• Pay 3p more for a beer, save lives with an Alcohol Treatment Levy
• MUP boosts alcohol sales for Scottish stores, study says
• Jon Ashworth: Alcohol addiction services will no longer be neglected
• Alcohol industry CSR actions ineffective
• NIAAA tweaks alcohol-cancer link understatement