Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to place further restrictions on the advertisement of alcohol.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which operates independently of government, is responsible for regulating advertising in the UK across traditional forms of media such as print, radio and TV, as well as online. It administers the Advertising Codes of Practice, which are drawn up by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP).

The Advertising Codes impose a wide range of restrictions to ensure that alcohol advertising is responsible and not targeted at children. These include that adverts must not link alcohol with social or sexual success, imply that it is indispensable or include elements that appeal particularly to people under 18. Online platforms have also introduced stringent measures to monitor alcohol ads and ensure safe advertising, such as age gating and age verification.

The packaging of alcoholic drinks is overseen by the Portman Group, the social responsibility body and regulator for alcohol labelling, packaging and promotion in the UK, which operates its Codes of Practice to ensure that alcohol is marketed in a socially responsible way, only to those aged 18 and over, and in a way that does not appeal particularly to those who are vulnerable.

The Government’s Online Advertising Programme aims to increase protections for children and young people under 18 from online exposure to advertisements for products and services that are illegal to be sold to them, and we will consult further in due course.