MPs demand 5p wine levy to save the NHS £300million a year

Bottles of wine should be hit with a 5p levy to pay for cost of treating alcoholics, say MPs

• MPs say wine should carry a 5p levy to pay for treatment of problem drinkers
• A 1% increase on alcohol duty would raise roughly £100million a year
• Charities say it could save £300million annually if invested in treatment

Bottles of wine should carry a 5p levy to pay for the treatment of alcoholics and problem drinkers, say MPs.

Increasing alcohol duties by 1 per cent – the equivalent to 3p on a pint of beer – would raise around £100million each year.

If invested in alcohol treatment, charities estimate it could save the NHS and other public services £300million annually. It is estimated that for every additional £1 invested in treatment, £3 is saved by keeping problem drinkers out of more expensive services such as A&E.

Increasing alcohol duties by 1 per cent – the equivalent to 3p on a pint of beer – would raise around £100million each year. If invested in alcohol treatment, charities estimate it could save the NHS and other public services £300million annually (stock image)

The proposal is among a number of measures recommended to tackle addiction.

Today, 30 organisations have created an ‘alcohol charter’, urging the Government to reduce the damage to society caused by alcohol. Published by the Drugs, Alcohol and Justice Cross Party Parliamentary Group and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Harm, it wants minimum pricing for drinks. 

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The Scottish parliament brought in the policy, which sets a base price depending on how many alcohol units the drink contains, in May. The charter also calls for a series of changes to protect public health and help tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder, including better training for health professionals to give advice to problem drinkers.

Sir Ian Gilmore, chairman of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said the Government’s forthcoming alcohol strategy had to include ‘evidence-based policies which work to reduce alcohol harm and tackle the increased availability of super cheap alcohol’.

Bottles of wine should carry a 5p levy to pay for the treatment of alcoholics and problem drinkers, say MPs (stock image)

He added: ‘The best ways to do that is by introducing minimum unit pricing in England and increasing alcohol duty.’

Misuse of alcohol places a huge burden on the NHS, as well as the police and justice system. There were 5,507 deaths in England directly attributable to alcohol in 2017, up 11 per cent in a decade.

Hospital admissions for which alcohol was the leading cause rose by 17 per cent in the same period. Alcohol costs NHS England £3.5billion each year with a significant proportion of costs linked to a relatively small group of individuals with very complex needs.

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