Irresponsible alcohol promotions in pubs and clubs in Wales are contributing to excessive consumption, leading to serious long term health problems.
That’s the conclusion of an Alcohol Concern report published today, based on a survey of licensed premises in three major Welsh towns and cities. The charity argues that these promotions are creating an unsafe drinking culture, and that bold measures are needed to reduce harmful drinking.
The report Counting the cost: irresponsible alcohol promotions in the night-time economy in Wales is based on a survey of pubs and clubs in Newport, Swansea and Wrexham. Amongst the main findings were that:
* Around half of venues were offering some form of promotion on alcoholic drinks, whereas only 12% offered discounts on non-alcoholic drinks
* Alcohol was sometimes cheaper than the cheapest available soft drink
* Four venues offered pints for as little as £1
* 12 venues offered spirits, sometimes in double measures, for just £1
* Two-for-one and three-for-one deals were available in a number of venues.
Alcohol Concern Policy Manager, Andrew Misell said:
“It is clear that promotions that encourage people to drink more are common within the night-time economy in Wales and are not restricted to a small minority of premises. This contrasts sharply with the small number of promotions on non-alcoholic drinks.
“With double measures of spirits available for just £1, a woman could drink more than twice the recommended daily amount of alcohol – the usual definition of a binge – for just £3 and a man could binge for as little as £4.
“The night-time economy can bring big benefits to our towns and cities, but this must be balanced with the public health implications of cheap alcohol. We’d like to see pubs and clubs competing on the basis of their facilities, entertainment and atmosphere, rather than who can offer the cheapest booze.”
People who regularly drink above recommended guidelines are at much greater risk of developing long-term health problems, including liver disease and mouth, food pipe, bowel and breast cancer. To address this serious public health challenge, Alcohol Concern recommends:
* Rules on alcoholic drinks promotions need to be further tightened to prevent all those that encourage heavy drinking. To prevent simply shifting the problem from the pub to the home, this needs to be coupled with a 50p per unit minimum price in shops and supermarkets as well as pubs and clubs.
* To ensure people are better informed about how much they are drinking, health and unit information at the point of sale of alcohol should be compulsory. This information should be produced and managed by an independent body – not by the drinks industry.
* The Licensing Act 2003 needs to be amended to allow local authorities to take public health into account when accepting or rejecting license applications.
* If significant progress cannot soon be made in tackling irresponsible alcohol promotions across England and Wales and setting a minimum price, Alcohol Concern supports moves to devolve the necessary powers to the National Assembly for Wales.
Alcohol Concern