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HM Treasury has now published the review of alcohol taxation that was agreed as part of the Coalition Agreement. The Government states that it is committed to reviewing alcohol taxation to tackle problem drinking without unfairly penalising responsible drinkers, pubs and important local industries. However, the harms associated with problem consumption of alcohol remain a concern: alcohol-related hospital admissions have been increasing year on year and almost half of all violent crimes are alcohol-related.

The review states that there are a number of measures that can be considered to help address the harms associated with problem drinking, and the Government recognises that in some areas taxation can play a role. A change to the defi nition of cider has already been made to increase the duty on cheap, strong ciders strongly associated with public health concerns. To complement this change, the Government intends to introduce a new additional duty on beers over 7.5% abv in strength. This will help to address the consumption of cheap, “super strength” lagers that are also associated with high, and dangerous, levels of alcohol consumption.

Changes will also be made to introduce a reduced rate of duty on beers produced at an alcohol strength of 2.8% abv or below. This measure will help encourage the production and consumption of lower strength beers and give responsible drinkers additional choice. These measures will continue to be developed with a fi nal announcement made at Budget 2011. Draft Finance Bill clauses will be published alongside other Finance Bill measures on 9 December 2011 as announced by the Exchequer Secretary. The Treasury will continue to engage with industry and other interested groups ahead of Budget. There are no further changes to the structure of duty on alcohol as a result of this review. Decisions about duty rates remain a matter for the Chancellor at the Budget. The Government will continue to work with all interested groups to monitor and assess the available evidence about alcohol consumption.

The Coalition’s plans for alcohol taxation will be covered more fully in the next issue of Alcohol Alert.