5. What is the Welsh Government doing to help reduce alcohol misuse in Wales? OAQ(5)0106(HWS)

We’re investing almost £50 million a year in our substance misuse agenda, which includes taking a range of actions to help reduce alcohol misuse in Wales. Details are set out in our latest substance misuse delivery plan for 2016 to 2018.

I welcome that, but alcohol is ubiquitous in our society—it’s glamorised on tv, it’s promoted as something that you have to have in order to relax, or even to socialise. It’s advertised in sporting events, billboards, bus shelters, and magazines. Bearing that in mind, it’s not surprising that, based on alcohol sales, Public Health Wales have reported that 75 per cent of the Welsh population drink more than that which is considered safe to do so. I understand that the last Welsh Assembly Government were hoping to introduce minimum unit pricing for alcohol as a way of helping to reduce alcohol consumption in Wales, but I understand that we may not have, under the new reserved model, the power to now legislate. So my question is, first of all: do we have the power to legislate? If we don’t have the power to legislate, what other ways are we planning to help reduce alcohol dependency and abuse even further?

Thank you for the question. We do currently, under our existing settlement, have the power to legislate, but, unfortunately, despite numerous arguments made to the UK Government, this is one of the powers that they have sought to remove from the Assembly for the future—but we do still very much support the introduction of minimum unit pricing as an additional lever in order to reduce alcohol-related harm, and we’re actively considering the need to bring forward legislation on this matter. It is part of a wider suite of measures that we are taking. For example, our area planning boards are doing some great work locally, and, in Newtown, in your area of Mid and West Wales, tackling under-age drinking is really important—and we’ve invested there by supporting the development of a community alcohol partnership, which is bringing together local stakeholders, trading standards, police, schools and alcohol retailers, in order to support young people in particular to avoid having a harmful relationship with alcohol.

Minister, you may be aware of Alcohol Concern’s Communities Together project in north Pembrokeshire, which will be hosting a conference in March to learn more about how local communities can actually reduce alcohol harm, and how we can develop healthier relationships with alcohol. Do you agree with me that projects like this are a great way to promote healthier living, and can you tell us what the Welsh Government is doing specifically to promote and encourage these types of projects across Wales?

Well, partnership working, as you describe, is absolutely essential, because there are so many parties involved in terms of helping people who already have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol stop drinking, but also to promote responsible drinking as well. The community alcohol partnership, which I’ve just described to Joyce Watson, is one example of how we’re doing that. In December, as well, I published our new night-time economy framework for Wales, and the purpose of that is really to provide a structure for all key stakeholders in order to aid the development and preservation of sustainable, healthy, and safe night-time economies across Wales as well. And, again, that’s about bringing partners together to address these issues.