Funding from the Scottish Government to Scottish Health Action: FOI release

Information requested

1. Is Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) in receipt of funding from the Scottish Government?

2. If this organisation is in receipt of Government funding, please confirm the level of funding since 2018 (the year minimum pricing came into effect), with a break-down of the funding given to that organisation for each year to 2024.

3. Please confirm whether a condition of funding approval at any time since 2018 is that the organisation must publicly (or otherwise) support the policy of minimum unit pricing and where that is the case, please provide the specific wording of the condition(s).

Response

In relation to questions 1 and 2, I can confirm that £1,340,962 was paid to Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh, to fund SHAAP, in financial years 2018/2019 through to 2023/2024. A detailed breakdown of the funding given as funding for SHAAP for the period you requested is presented in the table below.

SHAAP is part of the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh (RCPE). For the purpose of this FOI however I have included detail on funding provided to SHAAP, though the grant holder organisation is RCPE.

Other funding separate to that relating to SHAAP given to the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh is provided in a separate FOI release (202400413517).

2018 / 2019	£212,774
2019 / 2020	£191,636
2020 / 2021	£191,636
2021 / 2022	£246,500
2022 / 2023	£247,590
2023 / 2024	£250,826
TOTAL: £1,340,962

With regard to the third question of your request to “confirm whether a condition of funding approval at any time since 2018 is that the organisation must publicly (or otherwise) support the policy of minimum unit pricing and where that is the case, provide the specific wording of the condition(s),” I can confirm that no conditions were placed on the organisations by the Scottish Government that required them to support MUP or advocate for MUP to receive grant funding. Instead, the outcomes set out in the grant letter in all instances were proposed by the relevant organisations as part of their business plan and agreed by the Scottish Government.

It should be noted that the grant funding agreements and grant values provided include a much wider range of objectives and programme activities than are listed below, and that the excerpts from grant funding letters below relate only to the information that is within scope of Q3 of your request 

Financial Year 2018/2019 - 5 June 2018 – OFFER OF GRANT FOR SHAAP, TO RCPE

• Aim 3: (details set out in SHAAP’s Draft Funding Proposal 1st April 2018 – 31st March 2021)
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• Promotion of Alcohol Pricing Policies, including but not limited to MUP.

Financial Year 2019/2020 – 12 June 2019 – OFFER OF GRANT FOR SHAAP, TO RCPE

• Aim 3: (details set out in SHAAP’s Draft Funding Proposal 1st April 2018 – 31st March 2021, dated 1
• February 2018)
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• Promotion of Alcohol Pricing Policies, including but not limited to MUP.

Financial Year 2020/2021 - 5 May 2020 – OFFER OF GRANT FOR SHAAP, TO RCPE

Aim 1: To raise awareness about alcohol-related harms with health practitioners, policy
makers and the public

• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]

Prioritising advocacy in relation to Government Strategy, including MUP and Marketing.

Aim 3: To advocate for evidence-based and public health-focussed policies on alcohol

• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• [REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]
• Promotion of Alcohol Pricing Policies, including but not limited to MUP.

Financial Year 2021/2022 - 19 May 2021 – OFFER OF GRANT FUNDING FOR SHAAP, TO RCPE

• Aim 3: To advocate for evidence-based and public health-focussed policies on alcohol

Intended outcome: To have local, national and international policies that are based on the best possible evidence

[REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]

4. Promotion of Alcohol Pricing Policies, including though not limited to MUP.

Financial Year 2022/2023 – 8 June 2022 – OFFER OF GRANT FUNDING FOR SHAAP, TO RCPE

Aim 3: To advocate for evidence-based and public health-focussed policies on alcohol Intended outcome: To have local, national and international policies that are based on the best possible evidence.

[REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]

4: Promotion of Alcohol Pricing Policies

Financial Year 2023/2024 – 21 June 2023 – OFFER OF GRANT FUNDING FOR SHAAP, TO RCPE

Aim 3: To advocate for evidence-based and public health-focussed policies on alcohol Intended outcome: To have local, national and international policies that are based on the best possible evidence

[REDACTED – OUT OF SCOPE]

4: Promotion of Alcohol Pricing Policies

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