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Assembly announce bill on alcohol pricing
THE WELSH ASSEMBLY Deputy Minister for Health has announced a plan to introduce minimum pricing on the unit cost of alcohol. AM Vaughan Gething unveiled the draft, ‘Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Bill’, and stated that it would ‘help save lives by tackling the impact on health and society and drinking too much alcohol’.
The bill proposes introducing an offence for alcohol to be sold or supplied below the minimum price per unit, which would be set at 50p per unit, although this, it says, would be kept under review. The Welsh Government claim that Introducing a 50p minimum unit price is estimated to be worth £882m to the Welsh economy in terms of reductions in illness, crime and workplace absence over 20 years. They state that alcohol misuse in Wales is estimated to cost the Welsh NHS around £109m every year in hospital admissions alone.
They have also linked the problem with crime, and the cost of crime to the taxpayer, which they say would also be expected to fall following the introduction of a minimum unit price, with, they claim, an estimated 3,684 fewer offences a year. Workplace absence the Government says would also fall by up to 10,000 days per year.
The draft bill also proposes new powers for Welsh Ministers to make subordinate legislation to set the minimum unit price for all alcohol sold or supplied in Wales as well as powers for local authorities to enforce the minimum unit price, including powers of entry for authorised officers; an offence of obstructing an authorised officer and the power to issue fixed penalty notices.
Mr Gething said: “Tackling alcohol misuse is a priority for the Welsh Government. In 2013, there were 467 alcohol-related deaths in Wales. Each of these deaths was preventable. This new draft Bill signifies our firm commitment to use our legislative powers to improve and protect the health of the people of Wales. Evidence shows that introducing minimum unit price of 50p per unit would be effective in reducing alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harms and the costs associated with those harms. It will save lives, reduce rates of crime, help ensure valuable NHS resources are used wisely and help businesses by reducing absence from the workplace. Minimum unit pricing will affect those drinks sold at unacceptably low prices relative to their alcohol content. This is a particularly well-targeted measure as it will only have a small impact on moderate drinkers and have the biggest impact on high-risk drinkers.”
The Bill has been met with general approval with Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Health, Darren Millar AM, saying: “A minimum unit price for alcoholic drinks will not in itself address the problems caused by alcohol in society but it would be a step in the right direction. Minimum pricing should be part of a broader package of measures which should include improved education about the dangers of alcohol to younger people and a greater investment in alcohol abuse services. While we will support the Welsh Government’s aims in principle, it will be important to resolve questions which remain over whether the proposals fall within the devolution settlement. The cost of alcohol abuse is incalculable and is often a contributory factor in homelessness, unwanted pregnancy, violence, road accidents, marital break-up and obesity. The need to tackle substance misuse is absolutely crucial.”
The Party of Wales Shadow Health Minister Elin Jones said: “Plaid Cymru has always supported action to minimise the misuse of alcohol and we support minimum pricing. We will scrutinise this Bill thoroughly as it makes its way through the Assembly. However, figures show that alcohol is most widely misused by the professional and managerial classes who are less sensitive to price increases. This Bill in its current form will not tackle this problem – the Labour Government must do more if we are to tackle this problem across the whole socio-economic spectrum.”
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Welsh Lib Dems urge First Minister to return dodgy donation
THIS week in the Senedd, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have urged the First Minister to return the £200,000 donation he received from a company linked to environmental crimes.
Speaking to the Senedd on Wednesday, party leader Jane Dodds MS urged FM Vaughan Gething to return money donated to his campaign by Dauson Environmental, a refuse and recycling business owned by David John Neal.
Mr Neal received a 3-month suspended prison sentence in 2013 for illegally dumping waste at a conservation site on the Gwent levels.
His companies Atlantic Recycling and Neal Soil Suppliers were also prosecuted and given fines and costs of £202,000.
Then in 2017, Mr Neal was given another suspended sentence of 18 weeks, with fines and costs of £230,000 after failing to remove the waste.
The Welsh Lib Dems have called on the FM to return the donation, as part of wider calls for a shift away from the influence of “big money” in Welsh politics.
Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said:
“This entire episode has casted a dark shadow upon Welsh democracy and has rightfully led to many questioning the integrity of Vaughan Gething’s leadership campaign and the way our democracy works here in Wales.
Unfortunately for many of us this is hardly surprising, as our political system has been broken for quite some time now.
A system that empowers the elite donor class whilst simultaneously shutting out the voice of the voter is a perversion of democracy itself.
This is why our wider goal must be to remove the influence of ‘big money’ from Welsh politics once and for all.
We cannot have another government that prioritises the interests of its financial benefactors over those of the Welsh people.
We need to take a firm stance in rooting out the influence of cash in Welsh politics, for the sake of our communities we must start prioritising their interests and needs instead of having more self-serving politicians.”
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Council seeking legal advice to address Withyhedge enforcement
PEMBROKESHIRE County Council says it has sought legal advice and is contemplating legal proceedings against Withyhedge Landfill operators RML, in regards to the ongoing odour issues at the site.
The Council intends to ask the Court for an injunction requiring RML to abate the public nuisance odour arising from the landfill. Failure to comply with the injunction would be contempt of court, which carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment and unlimited fine.
Following significant work undertaken by RML the Authority is disappointed that the problem has not been resolved and residents continue to be impacted by the odour.
Working in collaboration with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Public Health Wales (PHW), we fully appreciate that the communities affected cannot tolerate this any longer.
NRW announced that the first set of deadlines for the completion of actions to tackle the ongoing odour issues at Withyhedge Landfill have been met, one week on following the issuing of further enforcement action on 18th April.
This will be closely monitored by NRW to ensure the operator complies with all the actions set out in Notice by 14 May.
It was deemed appropriate to wait until the operator had carried out mitigation to comply with the enforcement requirements by NRW prior to considering this additional action.
To that end, on 26th April 2024, the Council served RML with a letter of claim and invited them to give legally binding undertakings to abate the odour nuisance or face legal proceedings. The Council also asked for disclosure of documents relevant to the proceedings, including records of waste brought in or removed from the landfill.
The Council has given RML until 14th May 2024 to respond to its letter of claim. This aligns with the current deadline set by NRW under its enforcement notice.
Pembrokeshire County Council Chief Executive Will Bramble welcomed the move. He said: “We are extremely disappointed that RML has not delivered the necessary action to stop the completely unacceptable smells from the site.
“We fully support the additional enforcement action being taken by NRW and continue to work closely with them to do all in our power to correct the situation.
“Our intention to ask the Court for an injunction requiring RML to stop the odour nuisance arising from the landfill, is another part of our collaborative approach. The smell from Withyhedge is having a major impact on residents and visitors. This situation has gone on too long and it is unacceptable.”
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Beautiful, funny and lovely: Family pay tribute to Sian Batchelor
THE family of a woman has paid tribute to a “beautiful, funny, lovely person.”
Sian Batchelor, aged 32, was found on a beach near Pennar, Pembroke Dock on Tuesday evening, April 30th, 2024.
Her family has issued a statement to say: ‘We are devastated by our loss. Sian was a beautiful, funny, loving person. We will treasure the good times we had with her.
“We would now like time to grieve and would ask to be given privacy in which to do so.”
The circumstances surrounding Sian’s death are being investigated and police would like to hear from anyone with information, sightings of Sian or contact from Sian, between Thursday April 25 to Tuesday April 30.
Police can be contacted either online at: https://bit.ly/DPPContactOnline, by emailing [email protected], or by calling 101. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired text the non-emergency number on 07811 311 908.
Quote reference: DP-20240430-284
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