Dr Richard Piper, CEO of Alcohol Change UK, said:
“By keeping alcohol duty in line with inflation, the Government has taken a welcome step forward, while raising much needed revenue. This could see duty receipts rise to £14bn per year by 2030/31, which can be put to good use improving the nation’s health and public services.
“But overall, we expected bolder action today, proportionate to the scale of harm caused by alcohol to so many lives and communities across the UK. This real-terms freeze in alcohol duty means that we are still only recovering a fraction of the total cost of alcohol to society (conservatively estimated at £33bn annually). Reintroducing Labour's alcohol duty escalator would have reduced alcohol harm and bolstered public finances even more.
“It was good to see that, following input from experts in alcohol harm, the National Licensing Policy Framework is even clearer that it will apply exclusively to the on-trade. But the really big issue with the Licensing Act is that it currently fails to protect vulnerable people, including heavier and dependent drinkers and children, especially from rapid and online deliveries. We urge this Government to take urgent action to bring the Licensing Act into the digital age.
“From poor sleep, stress and anxiety to more visits to our GPs and A&E departments, the harms caused by alcohol are felt by millions of us every day. Add to this time off work and lost productivity and we can see how our nation’s economy is held back by booze. The recent Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)’s latest study laid bare the impact of alcohol on our workforce and workplaces, including more sickness absence and reduced productivity caused by ill health. IPPR made a clear economic case for action and predicts that raising alcohol duty by RPI+3% could raise an extra £4.6bn* while improving the nation’s health and wellbeing.
“The country needs this Government to be bolder, bringing meaningful change to alcohol harm. This means urgently introducing proven measures that have broad public support such as Minimum Unit Pricing, reintroducing the alcohol duty escalator and restricting ‘always on’ advertising of alcohol on our screens, streets and spaces.”
Read the full Budget 2025 with supporting and related documents here -Budget 2025 - GOV.UK
Read the full policy paper on the National Licensing Policy Framework here - National Licensing Policy Framework for the hospitality and leisure sectors - GOV.UK
