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Written question asked by Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Davies of Oldham (Labour) on Monday, 10 December 2007.

Revenue and Customs: Alcohol

Question
asked Her Majesty's Government:What are the estimated average strengths used by HM Revenue and Customs to convert the quantities of beer, wine, spirits and cider respectively into hectolitres of pure alcohol in the published statistics on the amount of alcohol released for home consumption in each of the years 2000–01 to 2006–07.
Answer

The estimated strengths used to convert quantities of beer, wine and cider in to hectolitres of alcohol are:

Wine Average Strength (a) Beer Average Strength Cider Average Strength
2000-01 10.28 per cent 4.19 per cent 5.03 per cent
2001-02 10.07 per cent 4.16 per cent 5.02 per cent
2002-03 11.39 per cent 4.17 per cent 5.02 per cent
2003-04 11.74 per cent 4.19 per cent 5.02 per cent
2004-05 11.74 per cent 4.21 per cent 5.03 per cent
2005-06 11.77 per cent 4.17 per cent 5.03 per cent
2006-07 11.81 per cent 4.20 per cent 5.03 per cent
Note: (a) The increase in average strength in 2002-03 is caused by the reclassification of most ““cooler/alcopops”” to spirits-based ““ready to drink””.

An average strength is not needed to produce the quantities of pure alcohol for spirits as the duty is charged on the quantity of alcohol released for consumption.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
529; 697 c15WA
Session
2007-08
Related items
Revenue and Customs: Alcohol
Monday, 7 January 2008
Written questions
House of Lords
Alcohol: Revenue and Customs
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects
Alcoholic drinks Beer Cider Excise duties Wines Spirits
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk