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Scotland Minimum Pricing

As we anticipated some 2 months ago in our article 'Scotland - Minimum Pricing, in the Pipeline', minimum pricing is very much back on the Scottish political agenda with the publication of the draft Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Bill yesterday.

What is missing from the bill at this stage is any indication of the level at which it is proposed that the minimum unit price will be set.

In the previous failed incarnation of this bill, this was set at 45 pence.  

At the ‘Alcohol – A New Approach to Responsible Drinking’ forum we attended today in London, the implied suggestion from Donald Henderson, Head of Public Health Division at the Scottish Government was that the figure was likely to be higher when eventually published.  The draft bill also omits a ‘sunset clause’ allowing for the proposals to be re-visited at some future date, the only element to have cross party agreement previously.

The draft bill can be found here.