Study Finds Minimal Evidence of Cross-border Alcohol Purchasing

That the Parliament notes the publication of a new Public Health Scotland study, which examined the extent to which people might be travelling outside Scotland to purchase alcohol at a lower price since the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) in Scotland; acknowledges that the findings indicate that any cross-border purchasing was minimal and that it is unlikely to be happening on a scale that would significantly affect alcohol consumption at a population level or impact the intended outcomes and aims of MUP; understands that interviews with retailers indicated that none of them knew of people from Scotland travelling to England to buy large quantities of alcohol; is aware, based on the study, that analysis of off-trade alcohol sales data in the combined areas of north-east and north-west England in the 12 months following implementation of MUP showed a very small increase of 1.14%; believes that fears that lower prices would see vans heading from southern Scotland to northern England to stock up with alcohol have proved unfounded, and considers that, while alcohol-related deaths remain a challenge, figures released last year show that alcohol sales in Scotland in 2020 dropped to the lowest point in 26 years.