Alcohol Policy UK

Wales and Ireland step closer to minimum pricing

The Welsh Government has proposed a 50 pence per unit minimum unit price (MUP) expected to be introduced in the summer of 2019 following a further consultation.

Wales passed MUP legislation via the The Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Act in June 2018 following an open consultation and Scotland's green light after a long running legal challenge. Scotland introduced a 50p MUP in May 2018 and is currently undertaking a range of evaluation methods to review its impact.

News & updates June 2018: airports, teenagers, U-shaped curves, consumption & more

Selected media stories since the May roundup:

A forthcoming consultation on how alcohol is sold at airports has been reported. With increasing numbers of alcohol-related problems on flights and at airports over recent years, calls have been made to review the licensing exemptions at airports. A Home Office spokesperson said: “We will issue a Call for Evidence to assess the impact that an extension of the Licensing Act to airside premises at airports in England and Wales could have on reducing alcohol-related disruptive passenger behaviour.”

The “smoke and mirror” tactics of defence lawyers in drink-driving cases have been criticised by the government’s forensic science regulator, who has launched an investigation into the work of a number of expert witnesses. Guardian

IAS Alert June 2018: MUP in Wales, labelling, cancer, research & more

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

• COVER STORY – Welsh Assembly passes MUP
• Texts fail to moderate binge drinking
• Holyrood to make ‘wholesale’ changes to MUP
• Andriukaitis on labelling – consumers have a right to know
• Alcohol and cancer awareness link needs prompting
• Time To Deliver in 2018
• Abstinent workers off sick more than moderate drinking ones
• New tech gets tough on drink-drivers
• French support alcohol price rise to boost health
• Cancer risk lowest for light alcohol drinkers
• MESAS: weekly alcohol sales exceed guidelines
• Irish alcohol bill passes committee stage
• Canada: Committee calls for content, labelling, and marketing restrictions
• ALCOHOL SNAPSHOT – How heavy drinking varies by income

News & updates May 2108: treatment cuts, small measures, new strategy, MUP 'loopholes'

Selected media stories since the April roundup:

Analysis by the BBC found £162m (18%) has been cut from drug and alcohol treatment budgets in England since 2013-14, with budgeted spending falling from £877m in 2013-14 to £716m in 2017-18.

Severe funding cuts and a loss of qualified staff have pushed England’s alcohol treatment services to crisis point, a report published by Alcohol Concern warned. Problems could further worsen from 2020 due to the end of ring-fenced public health funding. LocalGov and APUK analysis.

News & updates March 2018: MUP Scotland and Wales, cuts, older people, beer affordability & more

Selected media stories since the February roundup:

Writing in the Scotsman, Alcohol Focus Scotland Chief Executive Alison Douglas, said "The historic introduction of Minimum Unit ­Pricing (MUP) of ­alcohol is just weeks away and will mark a significant turning point in ­Scotland’s damaging relationship with drink. When this life-saving ­policy comes into effect on May 1, the positive impact on the nation’s health will be felt in a matter of months. In the first year alone, minimum pricing could prevent 60 ­alcohol-related deaths, 1,300 hospital admissions and 3,500 crimes, and those health and ­other benefits will build over time.". See APUK's MUP and UK policy analysis here.

News & updates February 2018: pricing, Baclofen, admissions & new UK Hospitality industry body

Selected media stories since the January roundup: 

"Hazardous or harmful" drinkers must get the help they need if minimum unit pricing is introduced, Alcohol Concern Wales has said as the Welsh Government seeks to follow Scotland with a minimum 50p unit price in law. "I think we've known for quite sometime a lot of the alcohol in this country is consumed by those where alcohol is a problem not a pleasure" said, Andrew Misell, director of Alcohol Concern Wales. BBC

Wales MUP Vs taxation report as Scotland's MUP approaches

The Sheffield Alcohol Research Group have published its final report comparing the impact of Minimum Unit Pricing to taxation policies in Wales.

Download 'Model-based appraisal of the comparative impact of Minimum Unit Pricing and taxation policies in Wales: Final report' [pdf]

Wales has been seeking a 50 pence MUP and can now expect to progress with implementation after the legal go ahead for MUP in Scotland last year following a long running legal challenge from sections of the alcohol industry. Notably the legal challenge largely revolved around how proportionate MUP was in relation to other possible options including taxation changes.

Wales MUP evidence heard as consultation closes

The Welsh Government has been hearing evidence on Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) from a broad range of stakeholders as the deadline to submit evidence to the Welsh MUP consultation closes on 15th December 2017.

Wales' MUP move follows the recent legal go ahead for MUP in Scotland after a protracted five year legal battle spearheaded by sections of the alcohol industry. Scotland's current open online consultation runs until January next year though the Scottish Government will most likely be focused on key implementation questions before the law comes into force.

News & updates November 2017: minimum pricing green light, research in the news, alcohol free wines & more

Selected media stories since the October round-up:

Minimum Unit Pricing in Scotland

Big alcohol policy news in November came with the Supreme Court's judgement to allow minimum unit pricing (MUP) in Scotland. As the Guardian put it: The UK supreme court has backed the Scottish government’s plans to introduce a minimum price . After a five-year legal battle against the plans led by the Scotch Whisky Association, the court ruled that minimum pricing was legal on health grounds under EU law. The seven judges unanimously agreed it was “a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”. See our coverage here and an Alcohol Concern explainer here.

News & updates October 2017: soberocracy, hangover-free prosecco, gin pong, rise of the micropub

Selected news and media stories since the September roundup:

We are witnessing the rise of a 'soberocracy' suggested the Telegraph at the start of Macmillan Cancer Support's 'Go Sober for October' initiative, whose popularity, and that of Alcohol Concern's 'Dry January', make 'the seemingly ingrained British belief that nights out and nights in both require alcohol [look] increasingly anachronistic'.