Model-Based Appraisal of Alcohol Minimum Pricing and Off-Licensed Trade Discount Bans in Scotland: A Scottish adaptation of the Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model version 2From June to September 2008, the Scottish Government consulted on a range of proposals aimed at reducing levels of alcohol-related harm. The proposals included taking action to restrict promotions of alcoholic beverages and introducing a minimum retail price for a UK unit of alcohol.
Simultaneously to the Scottish consultation, the University of Sheffield was appraising pricing and promotion policy options as part of a programme of work funded by the UK Department of Health (DH) Policy Research Programme. The results of this research were published by DH in December 2008 and relate specifically to the English population.
On 2 March 2009, the Scottish Government announced specific actions in reaction to the consultation responses received, including modifications to the existing licensing regulations to prohibit discounting of alcohol and to introduce a minimum retail price per unit of alcohol. The initial threshold for the minimum price is yet to be decided, and requires in part further information on the likely impacts of such an intervention applied in a Scottish context. The xisting modelling infrastructure developed for DH – known as the Sheffield Alcohol Policy model – provides a strong platform for such an investigation and so the University of Sheffield was asked to adapt the English version of the model to a Scottish population.
The following set of policies has been prioritised for analysis:
1. What are the likely effects of introducing a minimum unit price on alcohol consumption, sales, health, crime and workplace harms in Scotland?
2. What are the likely effects of introducing a ban on price-based promotions in the offlicensed trade in Scotland?
2. What are the likely effects of introducing a ban on price-based promotions in the offlicensed trade in Scotland?
3. What are the likely effects of introducing a minimum unit price simultaneously with a ban on price-based promotions in the off-licensed trade in Scotland?
The Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model version 2 has been adapted to a Scottish context incorporating Scotland-specific data on levels of alcohol consumption, the prices paid by population sub-groups for different categories of alcohol and the preferences for off-licensed trade versus on-licensed trade purchasing. The model also includes Scottish data on the prevalence of alcohol-related diseases, alcohol-attributable fractions for acute conditions, the prevalence of alcohol-related crime, and levels of absenteeism and unemployment.
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