Drive towards a healthy nation comes with a higher price tag
From today, alcohol being sold in Wales will be subject to new rules meaning it can’t be sold below a minimum price. Political editor Ruth Mosalski explains what this development will mean, and why it’s happening
THE Welsh Government’s new law on the pricing of alcohol means a minimum of 50p has to be charged per unit of alcohol.
A unit of alcohol is 10ml (two teaspoons) of pure alcohol – whether it is in beer, cider, wine, spirits or any other kind of alcoholic drink.
It has been dubbed the Strongbow Tax because it will have the greatest effect on cheap but strong ciders.
But why has it been introduced? And what impact is it hoped it will have?
Here’s everything you need to know about a landmark new policy.
What does this mean for the price of my drink?
A standard-strength pint of beer or cider can’t be sold for less than £1.25 (it contains around 2.5 units of alcohol, so it is 2.5 x the minimum price of 50p)
A bottle of wine has about 10 units of alcohol in it, so the minimum price for it will be £5 (10 x minimum price of 50p)
A bottle of whisky or vodka contains around 26 units, and so could not be sold for less than £13 (26 units multiplied by 50p).
It’s unlikely wine will be affected as it is already sold at above the 50p benchmark.
But some wines sold in discount supermarkets are likely to go up in price.
Beer, too, is unlikely to be affected but some of the discounts that supermarkets apply when selling beer in multipacks or slabs will no longer be possible, since they often take the price below 50p per unit.
The biggest price increases will be for what’s known as “white ciders” – strong, cheap ciders which are often sold in large plastic bottles.
Some of these are set to more than double in price and may well disappear from sale in many places.
You may no longer see spirits heavily discounted – 750ml bottles of vodka, whisky and gin are sometimes sold now for as little as £10.
That’s set to rise to £13.
Why is this happening?
Around 10 people die every week in Wales from alcohol-related causes and every year alcohol leads to nearly 60,000 hospital admissions in Wales and costs NHS Wales an estimated £159m.
The Welsh Government says it wants to reduce the impact alcohol has on people’s lives, and that research shows that when alcohol is cheap, unhealthy levels of drinking rise.
It also thinks it will reduce the impact on wider hospital and health services.
Health Minister Vaughan Gething said: “We know when alcohol is cheap and readily available, harmful drinking increases.
“The minimum price won’t affect moderate drinkers who may be worried about the price of a pint going up.
“The aim of this legislation is to reduce the harm being done by those most at risk of alcohol abuse,” he added.
Dr Sarah Aitken, director of public health for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, said: “We see the effects of excessive alcohol consumption on people’s health every day.
“Aside from damaging the liver, alcohol affects the heart, kidneys and brain.
“It impacts on hospital services, and on people’s lives more generally. The intervention of minimum pricing will reduce the harm done by alcohol. It’s an important step and will hopefully make people think about their relationship with alcohol.”
How will this affect prices in pubs?
Drinks sold in pubs are already well above the 50p per unit minimum price, and so this new law won’t affect them.
For example, the minimum price means you won’t be able to buy a pint of beer for less than £1.25 or a large glass of wine for less than about £1.65 – and pub prices are higher than that.
In fact, many publicans have said they support minimum unit pricing (MUP) because they believe it will create a more level playing field between pubs and supermarkets.
Where does this already happen?
It is already a law in Scotland, having come into force in May 2018, and the Welsh Government says “early indicators are encouraging, with a reduction in the annual volume of pure alcohol in drinks sold, and a fall in the volume of alcohol sold at very low prices”.
Neither England nor Northern Ireland currently have plans to set a limit.
What do supermarkets think?
Most of the major alcohol producers and the big supermarkets have opposed MUP, suggesting that they believe it will hit their sales.
Asda has warned that changing the system in Wales would cost them £1m. Evidence from around the world shows that when the price of alcohol goes up, the amount people buy goes down, and the Welsh Government
is confident that this is what will happen in Wales from today.
If it becomes clear that MUP is increasing supermarket alcohol revenues, the Welsh Government will be calling for any additional profits to be channelled via taxation into services to support people with alcohol problems.
And charities?
Judi Rhys, Tenovus Cancer Care chief executive, said: “Alcohol is linked to more than 200 diseases, including six types of cancer, but awareness of these harms remains very low. Minimum unit pricing could help to reduce the levels of consumption in Wales, as we have seen since it was introduced in Scotland, but it should not be the only step taken to address the problem.
“We would urge the Welsh Government to look at further measures, such as tighter controls of how drinks can be promoted in shops and cigarette packet-style labelling which clearly shows the health risks associated with drinking alcohol.”
IT HAS become increasingly evident that Wales has a public health issue with alcohol misuse.
In 2018 alone we saw 60,000 people admitted to hospital because they have become ill or injured as a result of excessive alcohol consumption.
Worse yet, in the same year there were 535 alcohol-related deaths in Wales.
That’s 535 families who have had to cope with an unimaginable level of pain and grief – something that was completely avoidable in many of those cases.
Not only that, but it is estimated that alcohol-related issues cost the NHS upwards of £159m each year.
Clearly something needs to change, which is why we have introduced a minimum unit price for alcohol in Wales.
MUP will mean that anyone selling alcohol in Wales will be breaking the law if it costs less than 50p per unit.
When you consider that an average pint of beer or cider is around 2.5 units of alcohol, this would mean that nowhere could retail it for less than £1.25. Similarly, the threshold for a large glass of wine would come in at around £1.65.
Anyone would be hard-pressed to find a pub in Wales selling alcohol that cheaply, but that’s the point. MUP has not been designed to bring an end to pubs or socialising.
Instead its focus lies on combatting heavy drinking among people who are putting themselves at a serious risk of acute alcohol-related illnesses, such as cancers, strokes, heart disease, liver disease and brain damage, which can take up to 20 years to develop. It is these groups that we want to help; these groups that we want to ensure are not in and out of hospitals due to alcoholrelated accidents and illnesses.
There are a number of excellent services available across Wales for people coping with substance abuse, from the £53m that we provide each year to fund substance misuse services to the DAN 24/7 helpline, providing a single point of contact for Welsh people dealing with alcohol issues, or their families.
These services provide an outlet for those already dealing with alcohol misuse issues, but reactive care can only do so much.
This is why MUP is so vital, and will complement this work, as we hope it will reduce alcohol abuse at the source and ensure that those who are vulnerable in our society are not easily swayed into heavy drinking.
Scotland brought in MUP almost two years ago and early indicators have shown a reduction in the volume of pure alcohol in drinks sold, as well as a reduction in the number of alcoholic drinks sold at unacceptably low prices. While it will be a few more years before we can truly see the benefit of the change here or in Scotland, we are optimistic that MUP in Wales will help facilitate a healthier relationship with alcohol and, ultimately, a healthier nation.