News
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- Time for honest conversations about alcohol
- Q&A on alcohol marketing
- UK children anxious about parents' drinking
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- Alcohol producers failing to inform public
- Concern over alcohol-related deaths
- We need to make it easier for people to drink less
- Worrying rise in alcohol-related deaths
- Minimum pricing will save lives
- Pocket money prices for alcohol continue
- Scotland's alcohol problem laid bare
- Cheap alcohol is costing Scotland dear
- One drink a day can increase breast cancer risk
- Poverty linked to increased harm from alcohol
- What next for reducing alcohol harm in Scotland?
- Scotland must do more to turn tide of alcohol harm
- Concern as funding for alcohol services cut
- Budget: No change in alcohol duty
- Scottish Government urged to curb alcohol marketing
- Consumers have the right to know health risks
- Chancellor urged to tackle cheap, strong cider in Budget
- Online help for families affected by alcohol
- Alcohol-free childhood is healthiest option
- SWA granted leave to appeal minimum pricing
- Drink drive warning
- Scottish Greens call for action on alcohol marketing
- Scottish Government receives European alcohol award
- SWA will appeal to UK Supreme Court
- Half of alcohol being sold under 50p per unit
- SWA urged to respect minimum pricing decision
- Alcohol and mental health are closely linked
- Minimum pricing can be implemented in Scotland
- Alcohol sold at pocket money prices
- Scotland has so much to gain from reducing how much we drink
- AFS welcomes revised alcohol consumption guidelines
- Emergency services face shocking levels of alcohol abuse
- Every child has the right to grow up safe from alcohol harm
- Public health must prevail over big business
- New toolkit to help children affected by family alcohol problems
- Price check reveals cheap cost of strong alcohol
- Sales increase underlines need for minimum pricing
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- AFS calls for compulsory health warnings on alcoholic drinks
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- Minimum pricing decision delayed until summer
- No completely 'safe' level of drinking
- New alcohol guidelines published
- Minimum pricing - European court ruling
- Alcohol fuels ambulance assaults
- 82% of Scots agree drink driving is unacceptable
- Scotland's alcohol strategy - what next?
- Scotland leads way in evidence-based alcohol policy
- New report reveals impact of alcohol on emergency services
- Alcohol: a global concern
Budget: No change in alcohol duty
It is so disappointing that once again, the Chancellor has frozen alcohol duty, leaving the most vulnerable in our society to pay the price.
In a supermarket price check carried out by Alcohol Focus Scotland, we found a 3 litre bottle of White Ace cider at 7.5% abv on sale for just £3.99. With 22.5 units of alcohol in the bottle, this works out at a ridiculously cheap 18p per unit.
High strength white ciders like White Ace and Frosty Jack’s currently have a lower duty per unit than any other alcohol product. Cider has received preferential treatment in the duty system, and this has allowed products to develop which cause a great deal of harm to people’s health. The Chancellor has announced a consultation on a new duty band targeting these drinks, but he should have taken action today.
Many people in treatment for alcohol problems, including homeless and street drinkers, consume these products, having “traded down” to cider as their drinking became heavier. The mum of a 16 year old girl who tragically died in her sleep after drinking Frosty Jack's has bravely been lobbying MPs for action on ‘pocket money’ booze.
The Chancellor also failed to reinstate the alcohol duty escalator. The escalator ensured that alcohol duty remained at 2% above inflation each year but it was scrapped in 2014. Treasury figures show that tax cuts given to the alcohol industry over the past four budgets will cost the public purse a total of £2.9 billion over five years.
Alcohol taxes can help address the low prices that fuel alcohol consumption and harm but the way they are structured and applied limits their ability to raise the price at the cheapest end of the market. That’s why it’s so important that Scotland introduces minimum unit pricing as soon as possible. Minimum pricing will set a floor price of 50p per unit, meaning that 3 litre bottle of White Ace would have to cost at least £11.25.
Taken together, increased duty on cider, minimum unit pricing and the reinstatement of the alcohol duty escalator could improve health, save lives and ease the pressure on our NHS and public services. It’s a pity the Chancellor didn’t do more in his budget to deliver these benefits.
Alison Douglas
Chief Executive, Alcohol Focus Scotland