British Liver Trust welcomes the Budget

Posted on: 27th October 2021

The British Liver Trust welcomes the Chancellor’s Budget announcement of £2.3bn over the next three years for 100 community diagnostic centres across England, helping patients access earlier diagnostic tests closer to home and the announcement of a new alcohol duty system.

The Trust would now like further clarification on exactly what will be covered and whether testing for liver disease will be specifically included in this initiative.

The Trust was pleased to see that the government have committed to review alcohol duty and will submit a response to the ‘new alcohol duty system’ consultation.

Responding to the Budget today, Pamela Healy OBE, the British Liver Trust’s Chief Executive said;

“We welcome the announcement of £2.3bn to support 100 diagnostic centres and more testing and scanning in the community. We hope some of the funding for tests and scans will be used to detect liver disease, which has increased by 400% since 1970.”

We also welcome the Chancellor’s announcement of a new alcohol duty system and the potential to tax alcohol based on strength, which we have campaigned for and can deliver strong public health benefits. However, today’s announcement of a freeze on alcohol duty, for another year, will cause harm at a time when alcohol related liver deaths have increased by 20% during the pandemic.”