SNP council bid for minimum alcohol pricing

Friday 12 November 2010

SNP council bid for minimum alcohol pricing

Cheap booze could be outlawed for thousands of drinkers if a local authority plan is successful.

Renfrewshire Council could become the first local authority in Scotland to go it alone and introduce minimum alcohol pricing after a national policy was rejected in the Scottish Parliament.

Councillor Derek Mackay, head of Renfrewshire Council, said it is looking at the potential for introducing the measure in pubs, clubs and off-licences in an attempt to tackle drink-fuelled disorder and health problems. He said this could happen on a local authority level or as a joint approach with other councils in the West of Scotland. The council leader said officials were monitoring plans by local authorities in Manchester to create a by-law which would make it illegal to sell alcohol for less than 50p, which has the support of Prime Minister David Cameron. The Paisley area has the fourth highest rate of male alcohol-related deaths in the UK and around 86 people die each year because of drink related illnesses, twice the Scottish average. Mr Mackay made his comments during a joint health summit of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which supports minimum pricing, and the six local authorities in the board area. The Renfrewshire Council leader’s proposals were backed by Inverclyde Council. He said: “Alcohol is way up there as a major social and health issue and we need more tools in the box. If you don’t address pricing everything else, such as education, is undermined. “We are not frightened of radical measures. “However I appreciate that people can just get on a train and buy alcohol elsewhere so we may be looking for support for a coalition of local authorities in the West of Scotland.” He said the council may also consider existing legislation which gives local authorities powers to introduce measures if they are in the interest of the wellbeing of the public. Councillor Joseph Mcllwee of Inverclyde Council said he could not give a “firm commitment” to involvement in a minimum pricing scheme but said it would be looking into the issue as a matter of “high priority”. Renfrewshire Council this week announced plans for a new alcohol hit squad of nurses and psychologists to tackle the area’s drink-related health and crime problems which cost an estimated £80million each year.

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