Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) Continuation and future pricing: Equality Impact Assessment - Results

Executive summary

The public sector equality duty requires the Scottish Government to assess the impact of applying a proposed new or revised policy or practice. It is a legislative requirement. Equality legislation covers the protected characteristics of: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. An equality impact assessment (EQIA) aims to consider how policy (a policy can cover: activities, functions, strategies, programmes, and services or processes) may impact, either positively or negatively, on different sectors of the population in different ways.

This EQIA has been undertaken to consider the impacts of the Scottish Government’s decision to continue the effect of the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 beyond 30 April 2024 (the day on which the legislation is set to expire) and increase the minimum unit price to 65ppu^[5], if Parliament agrees, on individuals with protected characteristics.

As part of the EQIA process, the Scottish Government has considered the impacts of the proposals on people with one or more protected characteristic. The EQIA concluded that the new measures are neither directly nor indirectly discriminatory on the basis or age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.