Meeting of the Parliament 04 June 2015
The short answer is that the decision was made because of economic considerations and the economic climate of the day. Members have heard John Swinney responding to that point and citing that very reason. It is because of the fragility of some of the businesses that would be involved. However, we obviously want to keep the position under review.
As I said, there has been a large degree of consensus—not on all matters, but broadly speaking—that the progress so far has been good. That progress has certainly not been by the Government alone. We have worked with a range of partners, including the NHS, the police, third sector organisations and the alcohol industry.
Many actions must be continued, and we will want to pursue new ideas. The opportunity today is to begin to tease out the areas on which there may be consensus.
I urge everyone to be cognisant of the likely impact of the economic recession on Scotland’s alcohol-related harm statistics. The impact of such harms continues to be felt across our communities. Only a comprehensive, sustained and preventative approach, which addresses the key WHO priorities, will turn around our relationship with alcohol.
That will not happen overnight. We have been working for more than six years on a sustained alcohol strategy, but even that timeframe is not long enough to turn around Scotland’s relationship, culture and behaviour with alcohol. That is a generational issue, so it will take us much longer to turn that around into—I hope—a more positive relationship with alcohol.
I hope that my speech has given members a flavour of where we are on the right track and what actions we want to continue. The Government is very open to hearing ideas from all sides of the chamber and to building a consensus on the strategy’s next phase. We will work on that phase over the next few months and introduce it early next year.
I am happy to accept the Labour amendment.
I move,
That the Parliament recognises the progress to date on tackling alcohol misuse in Scotland and the impact of the Scottish Government’s comprehensive 2009 strategy, Changing Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action; further recognises the valuable contribution made to tackling alcohol misuse by local alcohol and drug partnerships, the third sector and the public sector, including the NHS and Police Scotland; welcomes the recent decline in some alcohol-related harms, especially in lower income areas; further agrees that substantial preventative action to tackle alcohol misuse remains essential, given the wholly unacceptable average of 20 alcohol-related deaths and 700 alcohol-related hospital admissions each week in Scotland; welcomes views on additional measures to help tackle alcohol misuse, and acknowledges the importance of price in any long-term strategy to tackle alcohol misuse and the Scottish Government’s commitment to introducing minimum unit pricing.
14:57