The Scottish Information Commissioner has been urged to launch "an intervention" into the SNP Government's decision to maintain its minimum alcohol pricing policy beyond April given the rise in alcohol-related deaths.
Shona Robison, Deputy First Minister, has confirmed that minimum unit pricing (MUP) will increase by 30% from 50p to 65p per unit of alcohol.
That means a 700ml bottle of Scottish whisky will now cost a minimum of £18.20, while a bottle of vodka or gin will have a minimum price of £17.07.
The policy is subject to a sunset clause, which means it will lapse unless renewed by the Scottish Parliament by the end of April 2024.
If Parliament agrees, the new increase will take effect on September 30 2024.
Annemarie Ward, CEO of FAVOR UK (Faces and Voices of Recovery) has called on the Scottish Information Commissioner, who oversees freedom of information (FOI) laws, to launch an investigation to "help the public understand" how the decision was reached.
Alcohol-specific deaths are now at the highest level in 11 years, according to figures published by the National Records of Scotland (NRS).
Ms Ward believes the evaluations of MUP have neglected to examine “the migration towards inexpensive alternatives like 20p street valium.”
She said: “I firmly believe that the implementation of MUP is having detrimental effects, leading to fatalities.”
She compared her request for an inquiry to a decision by Commissioner David Hamilton to launch official action into the Scottish Government's use of informal messaging.
Nicola Sturgeon told the UK Covid Inquiry last week that all her pandemic-related WhatsApp messages were deleted during "routine tidying up" of inboxes.
Michael Matheson was scheduled to address the increase in the minimum unit price of alcohol this afternoon. However, in light of his recent resignation, the expectation was that the Drugs and Alcohol Minister would step in as his deputy. Yet, she too has resigned this week. This… https://t.co/jyxOy4edVq
— Annemarie Ward 💜 (@Annemarieward) February 8, 2024
Mr Hamilton said that the inquiry had raised "significant practice concerns" over how ministers used messaging services such as WhatsApp and would officially launch an "intervention" to make practice recommendations.
In her letter to Mr Hamilton, Annemarie Ward writes: “On balance, the Scottish Government considers that MUP delivers public health benefits proportionate to the potential impacts of the policy on business, industry and the alcoholic drinks market.
"The Scottish Government is therefore proposing that MUP is continued beyond 30 April 2024.
"In the exact same way as your recent intervention in relation to the use and retention of informal communications using tools such as WhatsApp, the public need to understand how the decision to continue MUP was reached, this is the only way to maintain public confidence.
"Understanding how decisions are reached is how public trust in decisions are secured."
READ MORE:
Alcohol prices set to jump with 30% hike likely
Michael Matheson quits as Health Secretary over Ipad expenses scandal
Minimum Unit Pricing rise - How we got here
Favor UK has backed calls for a public health levy on alcohol sales as a method of funding vital support services including rehabilitation beds.
Last year, a report by Public Health Scotland said MUP had prevented hundreds of deaths and hospital admissions, however, it said there was "limited evidence" that it reduced consumption among the heaviest drinkers.
The report said the policy had prevented roughly 150 deaths and 400 hospital admissions per year on average from alcohol.
Though, in reality, the number of alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland rose from 1,120 in 2017 - the year before MUP - to a 13-year high of 1,255 in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available.
The mortality rate also climbed by 9% over the same period, from 20.5 to 22.3 deaths per 100,000.
Nevertheless, PHS said that the picture in Scotland would have been even worse without MUP.
Ahead of the announcement, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (Shaap) which represents frontline doctors, said there was "clear evidence" that minimum pricing had helped tackle alcohol-related harm in Scotland.
Chairman Dr Alastair MacGilchrist said the value was now too low "to work at its optimum in saving lives."
A spokesman for the Scottish Information Commissioner confirmed it had received the letter from Ms Ward and said he would be responding in due course.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel