Coalition pioneers minimum unit alcohol pricing
Prime Minister David Cameron has announced the introduction of minimum unit pricing (MUP) as the central plank of the Coalition’s new alcohol strategy, designed, he said, to end the scandal of beer being cheaper than water.
So far as is known, the UK will be the first country to experiment with MUP. Other countries such as Canada have gone some of the way towards it, but none has introduced fully-fledged MUP. The policy is controversial and it remains to be seen if the legality of MUP will be challenged under European Union law.
The Background
MUP forms the centrepiece of a new strategy which focuses on the affordability and availability of alcohol. In the same week, the Coalition increased the excise duties on alcohol by 5% as well as opting for MUP, and it was already committed to bringing in a late night levy to help pay for policing of the night-time economy. The new strategy also promises that the Government will amend the Statutory Guidance to the Licensing Act to allow local communities to take action in regard to the number of licensed outlets in a given area, off licensed as well as on-licensed. For this purpose, it will also amend the Licensing Act to include a health objective, a change for which the public health lobby has been pushing. All of these policies are being introduced despite strong opposition by some sections of the alcohol industry, and notably also from the Secretary of State for Health who made clear his opposition to MUP. The new Strategy seems to belie the claim of the BMA and much of the alcohol field that the Coalition Government was too close to the alcohol industry, as exemplified in the Responsibility Deal, to take effective measures on pricing.
All the main public health and alcohol control organisations decided to boycott the Responsibility Deal on the stated grounds that it was little more than a public relations stunt for the alcohol industry, which was being allowed a virtual veto over Government policy. However, in a parallel initiative to the Strategy, some of the main alcohol companies have agreed through the Responsibility Deal to lower the strength of existing brands, to introduce new lower strength products, to promote smaller servings and to encourage their customers to switch to lower unit drinks rather than similar drinks with a higher unit content. It is estimated that, over a decade, this initiative will remove 1 billion units from alcohol sales in due course, preventing almost 1000 alcohol-related deaths per year.
The New Strategy
The Government’s new Alcohol Strategy sets out a plan “to reduce binge-drinking in a bid to drive down crime and tackle health issues that for too long have gone hand-in-hand with drinking to excess.”
Key elements of the Strategy include:
- a minimum unit price for alcohol, probably around 40p, but there will be a consultation on the exact amount
- banning the sale of multi-buy discount deals
- zero tolerance of drunken behaviour in A&E departments
- a late night levy to get pubs and clubs helping to pay for policing
- increased powers to control the numbers of licensed outlets in a given area improved powers to stop serving alcohol to drunks
Launching the new Alcohol Strategy, Prime Minister, David Cameron, said: “Binge drinking isn’t some fringe issue, it accounts for half of all alcohol consumed in this country. The crime and violence it causes drains resources in our hospitals, generates mayhem on our streets and spreads fear in our communities.
“My message is simple. We can’t go on like this. We have to tackle the scourge of violence caused by binge drinking. And we have to do it now.
“So we’re going to attack it from every angle. More powers for pubs to stop serving alcohol to people who are already drunk. More powers for hospitals not just to tackle the drunks turning up in A&E – but also the problem clubs that send them there night after night. And a real effort to get to grips with the root cause of the problem. And that means coming down hard on cheap alcohol.
“When beer is cheaper than water, it’s just too easy for people to get drunk on cheap alcohol at home before they even set foot in the pub. So we are going to introduce a new minimum unit price - so for the first time it will be illegal for shops to sell alcohol for less than this set price per unit. We’re consulting on the actual price, but if it is 40p that could mean 50,000 fewer crimes each year and 900 fewer alcohol-related deaths per year by the end of the decade.
“This isn’t about stopping responsible drinking, adding burdens on business or some new kind of stealth tax - it’s about fast immediate action where universal change is needed.
“And let’s be clear. This will not hurt pubs. A pint is two units. If the minimum price is 40p a unit, it won’t affect the price of a pint. In fact, pubs may benefi t by making the cheap alternatives in supermarkets more expensive.
“Of course, I know this won’t be universally popular. But the responsibility of being in government isn’t always about doing the popular thing. It’s about doing the right thing.
“Binge drinking is a serious problem. And I make no excuses for clamping down on it.”
Reactions
The new Strategy was warmly welcomed by the public health and alcohol control lobby. Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, of the Royal College of Physicians and the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: “Health care workers who struggle every day to cope with the impact of our nation’s unhealthy drinking will welcome tough new policies in areas such as price and licensing that are based on evidence and should bring about real benefits.”
Eric Appleby, Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern, said: “This is a victory for common sense. We cannot carry on with a situation where it’s cheaper to buy cans of lager than a can of coke. We fully support the Government in taking action to clamp down on booze at pocket money prices and protect the health of our children and young people.”
For the IAS, Katherine Brown said: “We congratulate the Government for introducing minimum unit pricing as part of its new Alcohol Strategy. Whilst minimum pricing is not a silver bullet, it is the single most useful measure the Government could introduce at this time to tackle head-on the problem of harmful drinking. However, we intend to press for the unit price to be set at 50 pence rather than the 40 pence the Government proposes. This would help maximise the benefits to be gained from the policy. The beauty of minimum pricing is that it targets the most harmful and dangerous forms of cheap drink, without unfairly penalising moderate consumers. Prices in pubs and bars will not be affected. The problem of harmful consumption by young people will also be tackled, as they are proven to be especially sensitive to price. Currently, alcohol is associated with 1-in-4 deaths amongst young people aged 16-24. This initiative is a major step in the right direction to protect future generations from alcohol related harm.”
Predictably, reactions from the alcohol industry were more mixed but interestingly less uniformly hostile than might have been anticipated. The prospect of MUP has divided the industry, preventing it speaking with a single voice on the issue, and hostility to the new Strategy was tempered by an acknowledgement that MUP would at least create a more level playing field between the on-trade and the supermarkets.
Nick Bish, Chief Executive of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) said: “We are pleased that the Government has finally woken up to the fact that it is the plethora of pocket money priced alcohol and unregulated supermarket sales which are the real problem. With 70% of alcohol now bought and consumed at home, punitive measures against pubs and bars will not deliver the Government’s public policy objectives on health and crime and disorder.
“We welcome this move that starts to address the price differential between pubs and supermarkets, and we still need action to encourage customers to drink in the supervised, responsible environment of the pub.”
British Retail Consortium (BRC) Food Director, Andrew Opie disagreed. He criticized David Cameron for being “seriously misguided”. He said it was simplistic to imagine a minimum price was some sort of silver bullet solution to irresponsible drinking and a myth to suggest that supermarkets were the problem, or that a pub was somehow a safer drinking environment.
“People who buy alcohol in supermarkets”, he said, buy it with a range of other items as part of their regular shop and take it home to drink over a period or share. Effectively, a minimum price is a tax on responsible drinkers.”
|
| There will be national action to:
Tackle the availability of cheap alcohol through the introduction of a minimum unit price for alcohol and consult on a ban on multi-buy promotions in the off-trade. Launch a review of current commitments within the Mandatory Code for Alcohol to ensure they are suffi ciently targeting problems such as irresponsible promotions in pubs and clubs. Consult on alcohol anti-fraud measures, including the introduction of fiscal marks for beer supply chain legislation, and a licensing scheme for wholesale alcohol dealers. Work with the Portman Group to ensure that where unacceptable marketing does occur, it results in the removal of offending brands from retailers. Work with the ASA and Ofcom to examine ways to ensure that adverts promoting alcohol are not shown during programmes of high appeal to young people. Work with the ASA to ensure the full and vigorous application of ASA powers to online and social media and work with industry to develop a scheme to verify people’s actual ages which will apply to alcohol company websites and associated social media. Work with the ASA and other relevant bodies to look at the rules and incentives that might inhibit the promotion of lower strength alcohol products. |
| The Government will drive greater industry responsibility and action in tackling alcohol misuse. We will:
Challenge the industry to meet a new set of commitments to drive down alcohol misuse. Continue work through the Responsibility Deal to support the alcohol industry to market, advertise and sell their products in a responsible way and deliver the core commitment to “foster a culture of responsible drinking, which will help people to drink within guidelines”. Cut red tape for responsible businesses by giving licensing authorities greater freedom to take decisions that refl ect the needs of their local community. Continue work with industry on areas such as calorie labelling, not serving people when drunk and a renewed commitment to Drinkaware. |