Alcohol Harm Prevention Levy

Alcohol harm in Scotland is a public health emergency. Alcohol costs Scotland up to £10 billion every year, including up to £700 million in health and social care costs. The pandemic has added to existing problems, damaging more people’s lives and creating a further burden on our health and social care services.

Currently, retailers retain the additional revenue arising from minimum unit pricing, which has been estimated to be over £30 million per year. The ‘polluter pays’ principle should be applied to the sale of alcohol, meaning retailers should pay a levy towards mitigating the health and social costs caused by the products they sell. This could raise £57m per year for local prevention, treatment, and care services.

Making the Industry pay their way

An alcohol harm prevention levy to make industry pay their way Alcohol use costs the Scottish economy up to £10 billion each year, including up to £700 million in health and social care costs.

Retailers should pay towards mitigating these health and social costs caused by the products they sell – following the ‘polluter pays’ principle. An alcohol harm prevention levy would generate funds for local prevention, treatment, and care services.

The levy would apply to retailers licensed to sell alcohol, via a supplement on non-domestic business rates. This would draw on the tried and tested model of the public health supplement, which applied to large retailers selling both alcohol and tobacco between 2012 and 2015, raising over £95m. The Scottish Government has already committed to revisiting a public heath supplement in advance of the next Budget.

 

Watch this short video of our Deputy CEO Laura Mahon explaining more about the Alcohol Harm Prevention Levy and why we need this in Scotland.

 

 

Advocating for a levy through the budget process

AFS has submitted responses to Scottish Parliament Committees on the next Scottish Budget, making the case for an alcohol harm prevention levy.

Our responses to the Finance and Public Administration Committee and Health, Social Care and Sport Committee highlight the cost of alcohol harm to the Scottish economy and call for the introduction of an alcohol harm prevention levy in the next budget. 

Engagement with people in recovery, recovery organisations and service providers played a key role in informing the response and their views were presented in detail. There was unanimous agreement that a levy is needed to better fund services for people in recovery – particularly for residential rehabilitation; mental health support; peer support and recovery communities; support for families; and educating the workforce to tackle stigma.

To find out more about our involvement work, or to make your voice heard on this issue, visit our Get Involved page. 

Read more

• AFS Alcohol Harm Prevention Levy Briefing
• Estimating Revenues from a proposed levy on non-domestic rates for alcohol retailers in Scotland