Home Office officials and Alcohol Industry representatives questioned on EU Alcohol Strategy

• Parliament TV: Watch the evidence session
• Inquiry: EU Alcohol Strategy
• EU Sub-Committee on Home Affairs, Health and Education

Witnesses

Wednesday 26 November, Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster

At 10.30am

• Stephen Cummins, Policy Lead on Alcohol, Home Office
• Daniel Greaves, Head of the Drugs and Alcohol Unit, Home Office 

At 11.15am

• Miles Beale, Chief Executive, Wine and Spirits Trade Association
• David Frost, Chief Executive, Scotch Whisky Association
• Brigid Simmonds OBE, Chief Executive, British Beer & Pub Association
• Paul Waterson, Chief Executive, The Scottish Licensed Trade Association

Possible Questions

At 10.30am

• Did the EU Alcohol Strategy 2006-2012 have any effects on domestic law enforcement efforts with regard to alcohol-related crime?
• What role does excess drinking and under-age drinking play in the amount and extent of public disorder?
• What is the cost, in both time and money, of excess alcohol consumption with regard to police resources?
• In what percentage of crime in the UK is alcohol recorded as a contributing factor?
• What proportion of road traffic offences, injury and deaths are caused by excess alcohol consumption?
• What is the correlation between alcohol levels and / or consumption with domestic violence and other harm to third parties?
• Should alcohol-related crime by addressed at the European level at all?
• What are the potential effects of different rates of alcohol taxation across the EU on fraud?
• Are education programmes and awareness raising campaigns effective tools to reduce alcohol-related harm?

At 11.15am

• What were the main achievements of the EU Alcohol Strategy 2006–2012?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of pricing policies such as minimum unit pricing or bans on the below cost sale of alcohol?
• What  is the relationship between taxation and pricing policies such as minimum unit pricing?
• What should be the role of NGOs and other civil society actors in formulating and implementing alcohol policy?
• Witnesses in earlier evidence sessions have stated that the alcohol industry’s primary responsibility is towards its shareholders, and that this disproportionately influences the companies’ involvement in the formulation of alcohol policies. Is this a fair criticism?
• Should a new EU Strategy retain the same balance between regulation and voluntary commitments as the EU Alcohol Strategy 2006 – 2012?
• How is the implementation of voluntary commitments monitored and evaluated?
• Written evidence submitted by The Wine and Spirit Trade Association states that the “quality of the research in a number of projects funded by the European Commission has been poor” and that “the same researchers seem to get funded time and again”. What is your view on this?

Further information

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