Booze price set to soar as SNP plans new tax

Pubs and restaurants face rates rise

A CRACKDOWN on Scotland’s alcohol problem that could ramp up the price of drinks is to be launched within months.

Ministers are preparing an action plan to tackle alcohol abuse, focusing on how to cut the ‘affordability’ of beer, wine and spirits.

Since coming to power in 2007, the SNP has introduced moves to stamp out cut-price drink, including banning multi-buy promotions, happy hours and bulk-buy discounts, as well as ending membership discounting schemes.

Now Ministers are working on the ‘next phase’ of measures, to be unveiled next year.

A key proposal will be a ‘social responsibility levy’ which will force shops, pubs and restaurants which sell alcohol to pay up to hundreds of thousands of pounds a year more in business rates – which could lead to higher prices.

The Alcohol Framework will feature measures aimed at ‘on sales’ premises such as pubs and restaurants and ‘off-sales’ premises including supermarkets.

Ministers insist the initiative will be in addition to the introduction of minimum pricing.

This aims to force all retailers to charge at least 50p for every unit of alcohol they sell, although that policy is on the brink of being killed off after Europe’s most senior legal adviser said it risked breaching EU trade rules.

Public Health Minister Maureen Watt said: ‘We have seen improvements in alcohol-related harm levels following measures such as the multi-buy discount ban and increased investment in alcohol treatment and care services.

‘However, affordability remains a key issue, and is closely related to consumption and harm. While an average of 22 people a week still die because of alcohol, there can be no room for complacency. That is why we are working on the next phase of our alcohol strategy, which will be ready in 2016.

‘We will also consider whether there is a case to apply a social responsibility levy.’

Latest figures show that alcoholrelated deaths north of the Border rose last year by 5 per cent to 1,152, and that the death rate is well above the rest of the UK.

The social responsibility levy was championed by Nicola Sturgeon in 2011 when she was Health Secretary. The move gained support from the Scottish parliament but was shelved in favour of a public health ‘supermarket tax’ subsidy which forced large retailers to pay more in business rates.

Now that minimum pricing looks set to be defeated, Ministers are prepared to review measures such as the social responsibility levy.

However, new measures could affect the whisky industry, which accounts for around a quarter of total UK food and drink exports. Rosemary Gallagher, of the Scotch Whisky Association, said: ‘Methods to combat misuse appear to be working, rather than pursuing minimum unit pricing.’

Nicola Sturgeon will give a speech on Wednesday at a Global Alcohol Policy Alliance conference in Edinburgh.

Ahead of the event, which will discuss new measures to tackle alcohol abuse, the First Minister said: ‘As affordability has increased, alcohol-related harms have risen, which is why we need a minimum unit price.’

‘Increase in alcohol-related harm’