Health inequalities - the minimum pricing of alcohol

Last updated:29 April 2010

The Health Inequalities Scrutiny Programme is gathering pace now.

Blackpool Borough Council is the lead authority for a partnership review in to a very topical subject – the minimum pricing of alcohol.

The North West has been working on this topic for a number of months. This review is just one of the ways that the region is working to take forward this serious and controversial issue.

The review itself will gather views for and against, look at the feasibility of the introduction of minimum pricing both locally and nationally, and look at advertising and retail marketing policies.

Blackpool has some of the highest levels of alcohol related harm in the country, and Blackpool’s Director of Public Health suggested that this piece of work would be worthwhile and would contribute to work already done in this area.  It has been suggested that if introduced, minimum pricing would be the single biggest contributor towards reduction in alcohol related health inequalities.

This review places an emphasis on the “overview” role of overview and scrutiny committees, seeking to clarify views via consultation exercises with consumers, traders and other stakeholders, which can then be fed into the wider campaign, ultimately to effect change in policy.

Find out more here.