Table 1 The Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network Pledges

A1.

We will ensure that over 80% of products on shelf (by December 2013) will have labels with clear unit content, NHS guidelines and a warning about drinking when pregnant.

A2.

We will provide simple and consistent information in the on-trade (e.g. pubs and clubs), to raise awareness of the unit content of alcoholic drinks, and we will also explore together with health bodies how messages around drinking guidelines and the associated health harms might be communicated.

A3.

We will provide simple and consistent information as appropriate in the off-trade (supermarkets and off-licences) as well as other marketing channels (e.g. in-store magazines), to raise awareness of the units, calorie content of alcoholic drinks, NHS drinking guidelines, and the health harms associated with exceeding guidelines.

A4.

We commit to ensuring effective action is taken in all premises to reduce and prevent under-age sales of alcohol (primarily through rigorous application of Challenge 21 and Challenge 25).

A5.

We commit to maintaining the levels of financial support and in-kind funding for Drinkaware and the “Why let the Good times go bad?” campaign as set out in the Memoranda of Understanding between Industry, Government and Drinkaware.

A6.

We commit to further action on advertising and marketing, namely the development of a new sponsorship code requiring the promotion of responsible drinking, not putting alcohol adverts on outdoor poster sites within 100 m of schools and adhering to the Drinkaware brand guidelines to ensure clear and consistent usage.

A7(a).

In local communities we will provide support for schemes appropriate for local areas that wish to use them to address issues around social and health harms, and will act together to improve joined up working between such schemes operating in local areas as:

▪ Best Bar None and Pubwatch, which set standards for on-trade premises

▪ Purple Flag which make awards to safe, consumer friendly areas

▪ Community Alcohol Partnerships, which currently support local partnership working to address issues such as under-age sales and alcohol related crime, are to be extended to work with health and education partners in local Government

▪ Business Improvement Districts, which can improve the local commercial environment.

A7(b).

To support our pledge to provide schemes appropriate for local areas that wish to use them to address issues around social and health harms, we will fund and/or support industry action in Local Alcohol Action Areas, by ensuring that suitable existing partnership schemes are in the process of being rolled out in Local Alcohol Action Areas by March 2015.

A8(a).

As part of action to reduce the number of people drinking above the guidelines, we have already signed up to a core commitment to “foster a culture of responsible drinking which will help people drink within guidelines”. To support this we will remove 1bn units of alcohol sold annually from the market by December 2015, principally through improving consumer choice of lower alcohol products.

A8(b).

To support our pledge to remove a billion units of alcohol sold annually from the market, we will carry out a review of the alcohol content and container sizes of all alcohol products in our portfolio. By December 2014 we will not produce or sell any carbonated product with more than (4) units of alcohol in a single-serve can.

A9.

We will financially support the Lifeskills Education and Alcohol Foundation (LEAF) with a minimum of £250,000 as a start-up fund. Subject to favourable reporting and evaluation of delivery, we will seek to increase programme scope through funding from the alcohol industry and others.