Drinks industry grip on alcohol panel criticised

Anti-alcohol abuse groups say push to cut excessive drinking risks being compromised by industry’s heavy presence on panel The drinks industry has secured heavy representation on a key government advisory working group on alcohol, putting it in a strong position to influence the coalition’s forthcoming alcohol strategy. Minutes of the Government and Partners Alcohol Working Group, which meets bi-monthly and is chaired by the Home Office director of drugs and alcohol, show that drinks industry membership has massively increased during the last year. Under the Labour government, there were a couple of industry representatives, but the coalition has swelled their numbers to the point where they make up almost half the membership of the committee, excluding the civil servants who represent government departments, such as health and the Treasury. Minutes of meetings before and after the election were obtained by the BBC’s Panorama programme, which on Monday night will show the damage excessive drinking is wreaking on young people and asks why the government has not acted to raise alcohol prices. When the committee met in March 2009 – then called the Alcohol Strategy Delivery Group – eight of the members were non-civil servants and two of them were from the drinks industry – one from Bacardi and the other from retailers Morrisons. Five others came from a health background and the sixth represented local government. But the membership changed under the coalition government. In December 2010, there were 10 members from the drinks industry and seven others. In March this year, there were 10 members from the drinks industry, eight of whom were present, and six others – three of whom were in the room. The minutes of that meeting show that the committee is to have a role in the government’s alcohol strategy. They record that it listened to a presentation from the Department of Health on what it might contain and was asked for views. The revelation of the industry’s central role on a government advisory body follows concern over its representation on the groups that negotiated the public health responsibility deal. In March, six health groups, including the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Physicians, walked out of the deal on alcohol, saying that they were not allowed to discuss the measures that would have most effect in curbing dangerous drinking, such as price rises. The panel’s health representatives said at the time that the government had listened to industry and refused to allow issues that could make a difference, such as price and promotion to children, to be

Posted by on July 31, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.