1 Introduction
1. The Government published its Alcohol Strategy
on 23 March. In its introduction, the Strategy says:
Fifty years ago, the United Kingdom had one of the
lowest drinking levels in Europe but it is now one of the few
European countries whose consumption has increased over that period.
Over the last decade we have seen a culture grow where it has
become acceptable to be excessively drunk in public and cause
nuisance and harm to ourselves and others...
A combination of irresponsibility, ignorance and
poor habits - whether by individuals, parents or businesses -
led to almost 1 million alcohol-related violent crimes
and 1.2 million alcohol-related hospital admissions
in 2010/11 alone. The levels of binge drinking among 15-16 year
olds in the UK compare poorly with many other European countries2
and alcohol is one of the three biggest lifestyle
risk factors for disease and death in the United Kingdom after
smoking and obesity. It has become acceptable to use alcohol for
stress relief, putting many people at real risk of chronic diseases.
Society is paying the costs - alcohol-related harm is now estimated
to cost society £21 billion annually.[2]
2. It argues that the strategy puts forward a
range of 'long-term and sustained' actions to be taken by 'local
agencies, industry, communities and the Government' in order to
'turn the tide against irresponsible drinking'.[3]
The Committee decided to examine the strategy to see whether the
proposals are likely to have the effect the Government is seeking;
whether the matters it is aiming to address are the most appropriate
ones looking at the issue from a health perspective; and what
further measures might be considered to counteract the harm that
alcohol causes.
3. We took evidence from Anne Milton MP,
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health, Chris
Heffer, Deputy Director, Alcohol and Drugs, and Dr Mark Prunty,
Senior Medical Officer, Alcohol and Drugs programme, Department
of Health, Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Royal College of Physicians
special adviser on alcohol and Chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance,
Eric Appleby, Chief Executive, Alcohol Concern, Professor Alan
Brennan, and Dr John Holmes, Sheffield Alcohol Research Group,
Chris Sorek, Chief Executive, Drinkaware, Brigid Simmonds OBE,
Chief Executive, British Beer and Pub Association, Henry Ashworth,
Chief Executive, The Portman Group, Barry Eveleigh, Lead Commissioner
for Drug Treatment, Birmingham Drug & Alcohol Action Team,
and Jacqui Kennedy, Director of Regulation and Enforcement, Birmingham
City Council. We also received 67 written submissions. We are
grateful to everyone who contributed to the inquiry.
2 The Government's Alcohol Strategy, March 2012, Cm
8336, paragraphs 1.1 and 1.3 Back
3
Ibid, para 1.5. Back
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