Government to assess the impact of minimum pricing

Home Office minister James Brokenshire has told Parliament that the Government is to produce an Impact Assessment on the effect of minimum pricing on the industry and other affected parties in the coming months, the Morning Advertiser reported on 13 July 2012.

In response to a series of questions on minimum pricing from the former Labour minister Ben Bradshaw, Mr Brokenshire said:

“In the forthcoming months the Government will produce an Impact Assessment that will consider the impact of minimum unit pricing on a number of key groups, including the impact on the alcohol industry as a whole, impact on the Exchequer, income groups and consumer groups.”

He said a consultation will be launched in the forthcoming months on “key proposals in the Alcohol Strategy, including the level to be set for a minimum unit price”.

The Home Office has set a deadline of implementing a minimum unit price for alcohol by October 2014. A GBP 0.40 (EUR 0.50) per-unit level has been mooted.

That’s lower than across the border in Scotland where the government confirmed in May this year that it wants to set a minimum price for alcohol of GBP 0.50 (EUR 0.64) per unit.