This Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament by the Scottish Government on 25 November 2009.

The main purposes of the Bill are to:

• Introduce a minimum sales price for a unit of alcohol (sections 1 & 2 of the Bill).
• Introduce a restriction for off-sales on supply of alcoholic drinks free of charge or at a reduced price (section 3).
• Make provision in law with respect to the sale of alcohol to those under 21 years of age (section 8).
• Restrict the location of drinks promotions in off-sales premises (section 4).
• Introduce a requirement for licence holders to operate an age verification policy (section 5).
• Make provision in law for a social responsibility levy on licence holders (sections 10 & 11).

For further information on the Bill and its accompanying documents, please see the webpage for the Bill
(http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/34-AlcoholEtc/index.htm)

Call for written evidence

The Committee welcomes evidence from individuals as well as from organisations and professional bodies. The Committee intends that evidence received will inform its consideration of the Bill at Stage 1. All responses will be made available to the Committee.

The Committee invites views on all aspects of the Bill. Responses should address all or any of the following points in turn—

• The advantages and disadvantages of establishing a minimum alcohol sales price based on a unit of alcohol;
• The level at which such a proposed minimum price should be set and the justification for that level;
• The rationale behind the use of minimum pricing as an effective tool to address all types of problem drinking;
• Possible alternatives to the introduction of a minimum alcohol sales price as an effective means of addressing the public health issues surrounding levels of alcohol consumption in Scotland;
• The advantages and disadvantages of introducing a social responsibility levy on pubs and clubs in Scotland;
• The justification for empowering licensing boards to raise the legal alcohol purchase age in their area to 21;
• The role of promotional offers and promotional material in encouraging people to purchase more alcohol than they intended; and
• Any other aspects of the Bill.

How to submit your evidence

Please send your views on the Bill by no later than Wednesday, 20 January 2010. Responses should be sent, wherever possible, electronically and in MS Word format to Healthandsport.committee@scottish.parliament.uk.

When emailing your submission to the Committee, please ensure the title/subject of the email reads: ‘Submission on the Alcohol etc (Scotland) Bill’.

Hard copy submissions may be sent to— Health and Sport Committee T3.60
Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP

Responses should be no more than four sides of A4 in length.

All written evidence received may be published by the Parliament and will be treated as a public document. If you wish to submit evidence in confidence or anonymously please read the policy on handling information outlined below.

What happens next?

Following consideration of the written submissions received, the Committee will agree a programme of oral evidence sessions and may request further written evidence as required.

Should you require alternative formats of this document or further information or assistance in making a written submission to the Committee, please do not hesitate to contact the clerking team.

For Committee information, contact:

Seán Wixted: 0131 348 5410
Email: sean.wixted@scottish.parliament.uk
For further information, the media contact is:
Ann Donald: 0131 348 5605
E-mail: ann.donald@scottish.parliament.uk

For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 348 5000

For general enquiries, contact:

0845 278 1999 (local call rate)
email: sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk

Visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk

Policy on handling of information received in response to calls for evidence

This information lets you know how committees of the Scottish Parliament will deal with any information sent in response to calls for evidence and any subsequent correspondence.

Most people who submit evidence want it to be put in the public domain. In addition, the committees of the Scottish Parliament are committed to being open in their dealings in accordance with the Scottish Parliament’s founding principles.
Our normal practice is to publish all relevant evidence that is sent to us on our website and we may also include it in the hard copy of any committee report.

Therefore, if you wish your evidence to be treated as confidential, or for your evidence to be published anonymously, please contact the Clerk to the Committee, before you submit your evidence.

You should be aware that it is for the relevant committee to decide whether the evidence can be accepted on the basis that it will be seen in full by the committee but will not be published, or will be published in edited form or anonymously. See section on “Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002” below.

There are a few situations where we do not publish all the evidence sent to us. This may be for practical reasons: for example, where the number of submissions we receive does not make this possible or where we receive a large number of submissions in very similar terms. In that case, we would normally publish only a list of the names of people who have submitted evidence.

In addition, there may be a few situations where we may not choose to publish your evidence or have to edit it before publication for legal reasons.

Data Protection Act 1998

The Parliament must comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. This affects what information about living people (personal data and sensitive personal data) we can make public.

Your evidence may contain personal data or sensitive personal data relating to you. In line with our normal practice, we will usually publish it, if relevant to the inquiry. We will not, however, publish your signature or personal contact information arising in your private life (for example, your home telephone number or home address).

We may also have to edit information which can identify another living person who has not specifically given their consent to have information about them made public.

In these situations, committee members will have access to the full text of your evidence, even if it has not been published in full.

If you consider that evidence that you plan to submit may raise any other issues concerning the Data Protection Act, please contact the Clerk to the Committee before you submit your evidence.

Potentially defamatory material

Typically, the Parliament will not publish defamatory statements or material. If we think your submission contains potentially defamatory material, usually, we will return it to you with an invitation to substantiate the comments or remove them. In these circumstances if the evidence is returned to us and it still contains material which we consider may be defamatory, it may not be considered by the relevant Committee and it may have to be destroyed.

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

The Parliament is covered by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. This also affects the way that we deal with your evidence.

As stated above, if you wish your evidence to be treated as confidential, or for your evidence to be published anonymously, please contact the Clerk to the Committee, before you submit your evidence.

In particular you should be aware that if we receive a request for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, we may be required legally to release the information to the person who has made the request – even where the relevant committee has agreed to treat all or part of the information in confidence or publish it anonymously.

So, in the circumstances outlined above, while we can assure you that your document / name will not be circulated to the general public in the context of the relevant committee’s current work, we are unable to give you a guarantee that the full document will never be released.