Quality report: Alcohol Bulletin
Updated 21 October 2022
© Crown copyright 2022
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected].
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quality-report-alcohol-duties-publications-bulletin-and-factsheet/quality-report-alcohol-bulletin
Contact information
The Alcohol Bulletin statistical release and this Quality Report are produced by the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Indirect Tax Receipts Monitoring team, part of the Knowledge, Analysis, and Intelligence (KAI) directorate.
Contact [email protected] for any queries about this Quality Report or the statistical release.
Data description
The Alcohol Bulletin National Statistics are published quarterly and report receipts and clearances statistics for all 4 alcohol duties administered by HMRC:
- Wine Duty (wine and made wine)
- Spirits Duty
- Beer Duty
- Cider Duty
The statistical release also reports levels of production by UK breweries and distilleries on a monthly and quarterly basis respectively.
The term ‘clearances’ is used by HMRC to describe excise goods (in this case alcoholic goods) which have been released onto the UK market for consumption, either from excise warehouses, production facilities, or following importation. This is also described as clearing goods for ‘home use’.
When goods are cleared for home use they pass through a ‘duty point’, at which point payment of duty is required. Paid duty is published by HMRC as ‘receipts’. Traders informing HMRC of duty they intend to pay is known as ‘liabilities’.
Alcohol duty receipts are reported up to the latest full month before the bulletins release. Clearances and production statistics are reported one month behind that of duty receipts. This lag relates to the one month accounting period for alcohol duties, which provides traders approximately one month to pay duty after goods pass a duty point.
The Alcohol Bulletin only includes historic statistics. Forecasts for future alcohol duty receipts are produced and published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which can be found on the OBR website. Queries relating to forecasts should be directed to the OBR.
Classification system
The various alcohol duty returns, as detailed within the Source data section, help to classify data within the Alcohol Bulletin, and provide the main breakdowns into the different tax heads.
A unique taxpayer reference (UTR) number, assigned to each trader following registration with HMRC, is used to organise Beer Duty and Spirits Duty data.
Tax coverage
Alcohol duties are indirect taxes charged following the production, importation, or releasing of goods onto the UK market for consumption.
Who is liable to pay alcohol duty to HMRC depends upon which party is responsible for the goods when they pass a duty point.
For example, if a UK registered brewery released beer goods directly from their premises, then a duty point has been passed and they would be liable to pay duty. But if the goods were transferred into an excise warehouse before being released, then whoever owns the goods at this point would be liable.
Statistics within the Alcohol Bulletin are reported at UK-level, reflecting the coverage of UK legislation for the collection of alcohol duties.
Variable definitions
Wine Duty
Detailed information about Wine Duty is found within HMRC Excise Notice 163: wine production.
Wine Duty receipts
Total Wine Duty receipts statistics include receipts from both wine and made wine goods. Wine Duty receipts are reported in pounds sterling, rounded to the nearest £ million, and in the month and year receipts were received by HMRC.
Wine and made wine clearances
Within the data tables that accompany the Alcohol Bulletin, clearances for wine and made wine are reported separately.
The categories used to report wine and made wine clearances are based upon a mixture of duty rates and the origin of goods when they passed a duty point.
Wine Duty rates are charged based upon the alcohol by volume (ABV) and quantity of goods released for consumption. Traders declare quantities of wine and made wine to HMRC as bulk litres.
Wine and made wine clearances are reported in hectolitres within the Alcohol Bulletin. A hectolitre is a metric unit of volume equivalent to one hundred litres. Hectolitres are used as it’s a unit commonly used within the alcohol industry and is a more digestible measurement for users rather than litres.
Table 1. Wine clearances categories within the Alcohol Bulletin, and what they include.
| Wine categories | Included within the category |
|---|---|
| Still clearances up to 15% ABV (hectolitres) | Still wine charged at the exceeding 5.5% but not exceeding 15% ABV rate |
| Sparkling clearances up to 15% ABV (hectolitres) | Sparkling wine charged at the exceeding 5.5% but less than 8.5% ABV and 8.5% and above but not exceeding 15% ABV rates |
| Clearances over 15% ABV (hectolitres) | Wine charged at the exceeding 15% but not exceeding 22% ABV and exceeding 22% ABV rates |
| Ex-ship clearances over 5.5% ABV (hectolitres) | Still and sparkling wine goods above 5.5% ABV that were imported into the UK before release for home use |
| Ex-warehouse clearances over 5.5% ABV (hectolitres) | Still and sparkling wine goods above 5.5% ABV that were released from excise warehouses for home use |
| UK origin clearances over 5.5% ABV (hectolitres) | Still and sparkling wine goods above 5.5% ABV that were released for home use by UK registered wine producers |
| Total wine clearances (hectolitres) | Sum of wine goods released for home use |
Table 2. Made wine clearances categories within the Alcohol Bulletin, and what they include.
The [d] symbol within table 2 indicates that data has been included within another category due to the risk of disclosing confidential trader information.
| Made wine categories | Included within the category |
|---|---|
| 1.2% to 5.5% ABV clearances (hectolitres) | Made wine charged at the exceeding 1.2% but not exceeding 4% ABV and exceeding 4% but not exceeding 5.5% ABV rates |
| Still 5.5% to 15% ABV clearances (hectolitres) | Made wine charged at the exceeding 5.5% but not exceeding 15% ABV, exceeding 15% but not exceeding 22% ABV [d] , and Exceeding 22% ABV [d] rates |
| Sparkling 5.5% to 15% ABV clearances (hectolitres) | Sparkling made wine charged at the exceeding 5.5% but less than 8.5% ABV and 8.5% and above but not exceeding 15% ABV rates |
| Clearances over 15% ABV (hectolitres) | Data included within Still 5.5% to 15% ABV clearances (hectolitres) category due to the risk of disclosing confidential trader information |
| Ex-ship clearances over 5.5% ABV (hectolitres) | Made wine goods above 5.5% ABV that were imported into the UK before release for home use |
| Ex-warehouse clearances over 5.5% ABV (hectolitres) | Made wine goods above 5.5% ABV that were released from excise warehouses and UK registered wine producers [d] for home use |
| UK origin clearances over 5.5% ABV (hectolitres) | Data included within Ex-warehouse clearances over 5.5% ABV (hectolitres) category due to the risk of disclosing confidential trader information |
| Total made wine clearances (hectolitres) | Sum of made wine goods released for home use |
Spirits Duty
Detailed information about Spirits Duty is found within HMRC Excise Notice 39: spirits production.
Spirits Duty receipts
Total Spirits Duty receipts statistics include receipts from both spirits and spirits based ready to drink (RTD) goods. RTDs are drinks sold in a prepared form which are immediately ready for consumption, in this instance spirits based drinks.
Spirits Duty receipts are reported in pounds sterling, rounded to the nearest £ million, and in the month and year receipts were received by HMRC.
Spirit clearances and production
The categories used to report spirits clearances are based upon a mixture of type and origin of goods when they passed a duty point.
Spirits Duty is charged per litre of pure alcohol. Traders declare clearances of spirits goods to HMRC in litres of pure alcohol, and production levels in litres.
Spirits clearances and production levels are reported in hectolitres of [pure] alcohol. Hectolitres are used as it’s a unit commonly used within the alcohol industry and is a more digestible measurement for users rather than litres.
Warehousing and spirits type
All spirits must immediately be entered into an excise warehouse once traders have established the quantity produced (known as ‘taking account’).
This is different to other alcohol goods which can be released for home use without first entering a warehouse. As such, only imported spirits goods and those released from excise warehouses can be reported by HMRC.
Unlike whiskey, which traders declare to HMRC by type (malt, grain, or blended), other spirits such as gin or vodka are declared as ‘other’. This data limitation prevents HMRC from being able to publish separate statistics for non whiskey spirits.
Table 3. Spirits clearances and production level categories within the Alcohol Bulletin, and what they include.
| Spirits categories | Included within the category |
|---|---|
| UK potable spirits production (hectolitres of alcohol) | Sum of spirits goods produced by all UK registered distilleries |
| UK malt whiskey clearances (hectolitres of alcohol) | Malt whiskey released from excise warehouses for home use in the UK |
| UK grain and blend whiskey clearances (hectolitres of alcohol) | Grain whiskey and blended whiskey released from excise warehouses for home use in the UK |
| Total UK whiskey clearances (hectolitres of alcohol) | Sum of UK malt whiskey clearances (hectolitres of alcohol) and UK grain and blend whiskey clearances (hectolitres of alcohol) categories |
| Spirit based ready to drink clearances (hectolitres of alcohol) | RTD spirits goods released from excise warehouses and imported into the UK for home use |
| Ex-ship and other clearances (hectolitres of alcohol) | Imported spirits and other types of spirits released from excise warehouses for home use in the UK |
| Total spirits clearances (hectolitres of alcohol) | Sum of spirits goods released for home use |
Beer Duty and Cider Duty
Detailed information about Beer Duty is found within HMRC Excise Notice 226: Beer Duty.
Detailed information about Cider Duty is found within HMRC Excise Notice 162: cider production.
Beer Duty and Cider Duty statistics are reported within the same table of the bulletin.
Beer Duty and Cider Duty receipts
Beer Duty and Cider Duty receipts are reported in pounds sterling, rounded to the nearest £ million, and in the month and year receipts were received by HMRC.
Beer and cider clearances and production
Beer clearances and production levels are reported based upon origin of goods, and in thousand hectolitres and thousand hectolitres of alcohol. Cider clearances are reported in thousand hectolitres. Thousand hectolitres is used as a more digestible measurement for users rather than hectolitres.
Beer Duty rates are charged per hectolitre and percent of alcohol in the beer. Traders declare quantities of beer to HMRC as both bulk hectolitres and hectolitres percent (hectolitres multiplied by the strength of beer).
Cider Duty rates are charged based upon the ABV and quantity of goods released for consumption. Traders declare quantities of cider to HMRC as litres.
Table 4. Beer and cider clearances, and beer production level, categories within the Alcohol Bulletin, and what they include.
| Beer and cider categories | Included within the category |
|---|---|
| UK beer production (thousand hectolitres) | Net sum of beer goods at all rates produced by UK registered breweries |
| UK beer production (thousand hectolitres of alcohol) | Net sum of pure alcohol produced by UK registered breweries |
| UK registered clearances (thousand hectolitres) | Net sum of beer goods at all rates released for home use by UK breweries |
| Ex-warehouse and ex-ship clearances (thousand hectolitres) | Net sum of beer goods at all rates released for home use from excise warehouses and following import |
| Total beer clearances (thousand hectolitres) | Sum of UK registered clearances (thousand hectolitres) and Ex-warehouse and ex-ship clearances (thousand hectolitres) categories |
| Total beer clearances (thousand hectolitres of alcohol) | Net sum of pure alcohol released for home use by UK registered breweries, excise warehouses, and following import |
| Total cider clearances (thousand hectolitres) | Net sum of all cider goods at all rates released for home use by UK cider producers, excise warehouses, and following import |
Reported time periods
All statistics within the Alcohol Bulletin are aggregated and reported by financial year, calendar year, and month. This is a standard format used within most of HMRC’s excise duties, VAT and other indirect tax statistics.
As alcohol duties follow a monthly accounting period, the monthly tables format effectively demonstrates the trend created by this form of accounting for users.
Statistical unit
The statistical unit for data collection is UK businesses and entities required to pay alcohol duties. This includes, but is not limited to, producers, warehousekeepers, and importers of alcoholic goods.
Time coverage
The financial year time series’ start from 1999 to 2000 until the latest full financial year for which data is available.
The calendar year time series’ start from the year 2000 until the latest full calendar year for which data is available. These time series’ start later than those for financial years as data is available from April 1999, meaning a full calendar year of data is unavailable for 1999.
The monthly time series’ start from April 1999 until the latest full month for which data is available.
Statistical processing
Source data
Statistics for alcohol duties are sourced from administrative data collected by HMRC whilst conducting its responsibilities as a tax authority.
This administrative data is submitted by traders within various forms used to declare liabilities and production levels for alcohol goods.
Table 5. HMRC alcohol duty forms and their purpose.
| Form | Purpose of form |
|---|---|
| Beer Duty Return (EX46) | Used by UK based traders to inform HMRC of beer goods passing a duty point directly from their premises |
| Wine/Made-wine/Cider/Perry Return (EX606) | Used by UK based traders to inform HMRC of wine, made wine, cider, and perry goods passing a duty point directly from their premises |
| Remittance advice for alcohol goods (W5) | Used by UK based excise warehouses to inform HMRC of alcohol goods passing a duty point |
| Deferment advice for alcohol goods (W5D) | Used by UK based excise warehouses to inform HMRC of alcohol goods passing a duty point, but where payment of duty is deferred |
| Quarterly Distillery Return (W21) | Used by UK registered distilleries to inform HMRC of quarterly spirits production, types of materials used, quantity of materials used and amount of spirits produced |
Frequency of data collection
Alcohol duty receipts data is downloaded each month for internal analysis and reporting. Alcohol duty receipts are also published externally within the monthly HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK National Statistics release.
Data for alcohol goods clearances and production levels are downloaded from multiple systems on a quarterly basis for use within the Alcohol Bulletin.
Data collection
The Indirect Tax Receipts Monitoring team collect source data from various systems.
Table 6. HMRC systems and their purpose.
| System | Purpose of system |
|---|---|
| Customs and Excise Core Accounting System (CECAS) | HMRC Accounting system for alcohol duty receipts and the system used to extract receipts data |
| Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) | HMRC system used by traders to declare imports and exports, alongside processing of duty deferment payments within W5D forms |
| Alcohol and Tobacco Warehousing Declarations (ATWD) | HMRC system used by traders to submit W5 and W5D excise warehousing forms |
| Beer Duty system | Structured Query Language (SQL) database used by HMRC to store and extract data from EX46 forms |
| UK Distilleries system | Structured Query Language (SQL) database used by HMRC to store and extract data from W21 forms |
| Registered Excise Dealers and Shippers (REDS) | HMRC system for traders approved to receive excise goods commercially from other European Community countries |
Data validation
CECAS alcohol duty receipts data
Alcohol duty payments (receipts) are initially received and processed by the HMRC Chief Finance Officer (CFO) directorate. Prior to CFO submitting receipts information to CECAS, it follows a sequence of quality assurance (QA) activities, including sign off by management and reconciliation teams.
Once alcohol duty receipts data is extracted from CECAS, the KAI directorate complete sense checks to ensure values are within an expected variance. Any errors are then investigated in coordination with CFO and the CECAS management team.
CHIEF and ATWD data
Data derived from CHIEF and ATWD is compiled on KAI’s behalf by the HMRC Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO) directorate. As such, checks are firstly conducted within CDIO during compilation of this data.
Once CHIEF and ATWD data is received, KAI complete sense checks to ensure values are within an expected variance. Any errors are then investigated in coordination with CDIO.
Beer Duty system and UK Distilleries system data
Beer Duty system and UK Distilleries system data is initially received from traders within EX46 and W21 returns, then processed by the HMRC CFO and Business Trade and Customs (BTC) directorates respectively. QA activities are carried out by CFO and BTC at this stage.
Once Beer Duty system and UK Distilleries system data is extracted, KAI complete sense checks to ensure values are within an expected variance. Any errors are then investigated in coordination with CFO and BTC.
REDS data
REDS payments (receipts) are processed and provided to KAI by the CFO directorate. Prior to CFO submitting REDS information to KAI, it follows a sequence of quality assurance QA, including sign off by management.
Once received, KAI complete sense checks to ensure values are within an expected variance. Any errors are then investigated in coordination with CFO.
Quality assurance checklists
KAI refer to a bespoke QA checklist during production of these National Statistics. This provides assurance to analysts and management whilst signing off statistics for publication that relevant QA checks have been completed.
Concepts included within KAI’s QA checklists include, but are not limited to:
- the question
- developing a methodology
- methodological steps
- running and testing the model and or code
- drafting the final outputs
Data compilation
As data for some alcohol goods cleared for home use isn’t available in quantities, KAI use receipts data instead. To derive these quantity variables, receipts are divided by the relevant duty rates.
This conversion of receipts data into quantities allows for the combining of this data with other sources that are provided in quantities. Data from the various sources are aggregated and published in the following units: hectolitres, hectolitres of alcohol, and thousand hectolitres.
Adjustment
An adjustment factor is used whilst calculating wine, made wine, and spirits clearances. This is based upon the net value of total receipts minus total repayments for these duties.
An adjustment factor is used as receipts data for individual rates doesn’t include any repayments, meaning this technique limits any overestimations of clearances for these alcoholic goods.
Quality Management
Quality assurance
All Official Statistics produced by KAI aim to meet the standards set out within the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Individual Analysts adhere to best practice outlined within the ‘Quality’ pillar of the code of practice.
Analytical Quality Assurance describes the arrangements and procedures put in place to ensure analytical outputs are error free and fit-for-purpose. It is an essential part of KAI’s way of working as the complexity of our work and the speed at which we are asked to provide advice means there is a risk of error.
Each piece of analysis is unique, and as a result there is no single QA checklist that contains all the QA tasks needed for every project. Nonetheless, analysts in KAI use a checklist that summarises the key QA tasks, and is used as a starting point for teams when they are considering what QA actions to undertake.
Teams amend and adapt it as they see fit, to take account of the level of risk associated with their analysis, and the different QA tasks that are relevant to the work.
At the start of a project, during the planning stage, Analysts and Managers make a risk-based decision on what level of QA is required.
Analysts and Managers construct a plan for all QA tasks to be completed, along with documentation on how each of those tasks are to be carried out, this is then formatted into a list of QA checks specific to the project.
Analysts carry out the QA tasks, update the checklist, and pass onto the Senior Responsible Officer for review and eventual sign off.
Quality assessment
The QA for this project adhered to the framework described in ‘4.1 Quality assurance’ and the specific procedures undertaken were as follows:
Stage 1 – Specifying the question
Up to date documentation was agreed with stakeholders setting out outputs needed and by when, how the outputs will be used, and all parameters required for the analysis.
Stage 2 – Developing the methodology
Methodology was agreed and developed in collaboration with stakeholders and others with relevant expertise, ensuring it was fit for purpose and would deliver the required outputs.
Stage 3 – Building and populating a model/piece of code
The bulletin was quality assessed as follows:
- analysis was produced using the most appropriate software and in line with good practice guidance
- data inputs were checked to ensure they were fit-for-purpose by reviewing available documentation and, where possible, through direct contact with data suppliers
-
QA of the input data was carried out
- the analysis was audited by someone other than the lead Analyst, including a process of challenging methodological procedures and decisions
Stage 4 – Running and testing the model and code
The bulletin was quality assessed as follows:
- results were compared with those produced in previous years and differences understood and determined to be genuine
- results were determined to be explainable and in line with expectations
Stage 5 – Drafting the final output
The final outputs were quality assessed as follows:
- checks were completed to ensure internal consistency, for example that totals equal the sum of the components
- the final outputs were independently proof read and checked
Relevance
User needs
This analysis is likely to be of interest to users under the following broad headings:
- national government, for example policy makers and Members of Parliament (MP)
- regional and local governments
- academia and research bodies
- media
- industry stakeholders
- general public
User satisfaction
Demand for the Alcohol Bulletin is measured by the number of unique page views which represents the number of visits during which the page was viewed at least once. Within the financial year ending in 2021, there were 1,756 unique page views.
Over time the Alcohol Bulletin has evolved as a result of information discovered through consultations and surveys.
Examples of previous consultations and surveys include:
- a user engagement survey in 2010 resulted in changes to the bulletin, including consolidating it from 4 separate bulletins into one, and the inclusion of historical data
- following an UKSA report from 2012, further changes were made to the bulletin, including the inclusion of commentary, graphs and background information
- in 2016, the frequency of the bulletin was altered from monthly to quarterly as a result of a consultation
- the Alcohol Bulletin was not included within a 2021 HMRC consultation, and as a result no changes were made
Completeness
It is a legal requirement for all entities involved in the production, warehousing, and importation, of alcoholic goods to register with HMRC and to submit regular returns. Penalties for non-compliance are also levied by HMRC.
As such, KAI are confident that the statistics within the Alcohol Bulletin capture activity from a majority of relevant entities
However, it is known that tax evasion relating to alcohol goods exists, and this activity is not estimated or included within the Alcohol Bulletin. The HMRC Measuring tax gaps Official Statistics estimate lost revenue from these activities on an annual basis.
Accuracy and reliability
Overall accuracy
This bulletin is based on administrative data, and accuracy is addressed by eliminating non-sampling errors as much as possible through adherence to the quality assurance framework.
The nature of the administrative data used may mean some errors exist in the recorded figures which will impact the accuracy of HMRC’s estimates.
The potential sources of error include:
- traders submitting incorrect information within tax returns
- traders not submitting their returns by the required date
- human or software error when entering the data into systems
- errors within the programming code used to analyse the data and produce statistics
Sampling error
No sampling takes place within the Alcohol Bulletin.
Non-sampling error
Coverage error
The data used to produce this bulletin is wide ranging, and includes all alcohol goods that are released onto the UK market for home use for which HMRC is notified. It is therefore believed that the bulletin captures the majority of alcohol goods circulating within the UK market, as notifying HMRC is a legal requirement.
Excluded from the coverage is estimates of revenue lost through tax evasion, and duty-free alcohol goods, which aren’t counted for this purpose, as by definition duty is not paid on these goods.
Given this, coverage error isn’t deemed to be of concern for these National Statistics.
Measurement error
The main sources of measurement error could be categorised as respondent errors and include the following:
- traders making errors whilst entering information onto tax returns, both on paper and electronically
- trader tax return data is subsequently entered onto HMRC systems either manually or by electronic transmission, which is another point at which data may be altered due to human or software error
Non response error
The Alcohol Bulletin is based upon routine administrative data, related to alcohol duty receipts and clearances of alcohol goods. Non response error is therefore not relevant.
Processing error
It is possible that errors exist in the programming code used to analyse the data and produce statistics. This risk is reduced through developing a good understanding of the code and thoroughly reviewing and testing the programs that are used.
Data revision (policy)
The Alcohol Bulletin aligns with the HMRC policy on revisions to Official Statistics.
The UKSA Code of Practice for Official Statistics requires all producers of Official Statistics to publish transparent guidance on their policy for revisions.
Data revision (practice)
Deferments and late returns can influence the data contained within bulletins. For that reason, the last 3 months of data at any given time are marked as ‘provisional’, although revisions tend to be minor. Where there are revisions they are clearly marked as ‘revised’, and information is given as to the reasons and scale of revisions if appropriate.
The bulletin is released quarterly. Within each release, the previous data is reviewed and any revisions descending from this are highlighted within the Markup code used to produce the statistics and marked as ‘revised’ within the published tables.
On an annual basis, receipts statistics within the Alcohol Bulletin are aligned within the HMRC Annual report and accounts. This results in revisions to March statistics and the latest complete financial year.
Seasonal adjustment
No seasonal adjustment occurs within the alcohol bulletin and is therefore not relevant to the publication.
Timeliness and punctuality
Timeliness
The Alcohol Bulletin is published one month after the end of the reporting period for the latest receipts. For example, the bulletin published at the end of February includes alcohol duty receipts up to January.
The bulletin takes approximately one week to produce, with the data not being available until after the middle of the month. The remaining time is spent quality assuring prior to publication.
Punctuality
In accordance with the UKSA Code of Practice for Official Statistics, HMRC announce the exact date of publication for the Alcohol Bulletin no later than 28 days before its release. Go to the Research and statistics section of GOV.UK for these announcements.
Publication dates are first announced as provisional, then changed to a confirmed status no later than 14 days before publication. HMRC also centrally publish proposed months for publication in advance within the Schedule of updates for HMRC’s statistics.
Any delays or changes to publication dates are communicated within the HMRC statistics announcements document.
There have been no incidents of late publication for the Alcohol Bulletin since the previous Alcohol Bulletin Quality Report was produced in 2013. This 2013 version is hosted on the UK Government Web Archive from the National Archive.
Coherence and comparability
Comparability over time
Following a review of the Alcohol Bulletin’s methodology in 2013, KAI made improvements to the accuracy of it’s estimates for beer clearances. However, a negative outcome was to limit the comparability of beer clearances before and after October 2011.
The 2013 improvements were made possible through the availability of new data to exploit for high and low strength beers from October 2011 following duty rate changes. Prior to this, HMRC possessed no data for these as traders weren’t required to provide this information.
These changes allowed HMRC to produce more accurate estimates of average strengths, in turn allowing more accurate estimates of beer clearances to be calculated.
Coherence (cross domain)
There are no known issues regarding coherence between domains for the Alcohol Bulletin.
Coherence (sub-annual and annual statistics)
There are no known issues regarding coherence between sub-annual and annual statistics for the Alcohol Bulletin.
Coherence (national accounts)
These statistics are coherent with the national accounts framework.
However, users should note that KAI report alcohol duty receipts on a cash basis (when payments are received), but within some national accounts publications, such as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Public Sector Finances, alcohol duty receipts are reported on an accrued basis (when tax liabilities were accrued).
Coherence (internal)
There are no known issues regarding coherence between internal datasets for the Alcohol Bulletin.
Accessibility and clarity
News release
There are no recent press releases relating to the Alcohol Bulletin.
However, there has been public interest in the ongoing Alcohol Duty Review.
The Alcohol Duty Review follows a commitment at Budget 2020 by the UK government, and aims to improve the current system to make it simpler, more economically rational and less administratively burdensome on businesses and HMRC.
If changes to the current alcohol duty system follow this review, it will result in changes to the way data is collected and reported within the Alcohol Bulletin.
Publication
The data within the Alcohol Bulletin is publicly available, and is published at 9:30 on the pre-announced date of release.
The Alcohol Bulletin commentary is published in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) format, as generated within internal GOV.UK HTML Markdown production software. The Alcohol Bulletin data tables are published in Open Document Spreadsheet (ODS) format.
Accompanying the bulletin is a Background and references HTML document, which includes:
- definitions of alcohol duties and taxable alcohol products
- details on how alcohol duties are levied and paid
- methodology for producing alcohol duty statistics
- statistical quality information, including HMRC’s rounding policy
- hyperlinks directing users to further information
KAI also provide a HTML document which provides Historic alcohol duty rates.
In November 2020, substantial formatting changes were made to the Alcohol Bulletin to ensure alignment with accessibility regulations for digital content from public bodies as enacted within the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
This reformatting of the Alcohol Bulletin formed part of HMRC’s wider accessible documents policy.
Changes made included:
- replacement of Portable Document Format (PDF) files previously used for statistics commentary with HTML documents for the same purpose
- migration of all alcohol duties background, references and rates information from Microsoft Excel tables to HTML documents
- migration of data tables from Microsoft Excel to ODS format
- simplification of language used to avoid jargon and clear explanations used to describe all non-decorative features
An accessibility report was first produced to identify required format changes. The overriding aim of this reformat was to improve how perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust (POUR) the Alcohol Bulletin is for all users. This process was guided by Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1).
Online databases
The Alcohol Bulletin statistics aren’t known to be used in any online databases.
Micro-data access
Access to this data is not possible in micro-data form, due to HMRC’s responsibilities around maintaining confidentiality of taxpayer information.
Other
There aren’t any other dissemination formats available for Alcohol Bulletin statistics.
Documentation on methodology
Additional information for the Alcohol Bulletin National Statistics is found within the background and references document which accompanies the publication.
Quality documentation
All Official Statistics produced by KAI must meet the standards set out within the UKSA Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
Information about quality procedures for this analysis can be found in section 4 of this document.
Cost and burden
Each quarterly update for the Alcohol Bulletin takes approximately 4 working days for the main Analyst to produce the bulletin and receive QA feedback from senior management and policy makers. The annual cost, therefore, is around 16 days per year (4 days per bulletin x 4 bulletins per year).
This is the most time consuming bulletin of all those published by the team, as it encompasses the retrieval and aggregation of several data sources, which in some cases can be lengthy procedures. The number of checks to the data is naturally large, although it could be reduced with further scrutiny.
There is no respondent burden since the data is taken from administrative sources which are used by taxpayers to make their usual returns to HMRC.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality (policy)
HMRC has a legal duty to maintain the confidentiality of taxpayer information.
Section 18(1) of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (CRCA) sets out our duty of confidentiality.
This analysis complies with this requirement.
Confidentiality (data treatment)
Before going live, the Alcohol Bulletin is classified as pre-released National Statistics, and is therefore subject to a restricted protective marking when referred to in email correspondence and is subject to the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, which is strictly enforced.
From February 1996, statistics for made wine clearances over 15% alcohol by volume (ABV) have been included within still made wine 5.5% to 15% ABV clearances statistics. Made wine clearances statistics from UK origin over 5.5% ABV have also been included within ex-warehouse clearances over 5.5% ABV statistics.
Some data relating to UK-produced grain whiskey is suppressed, and from April 2011 has been combined with UK-produced blended whisky clearances.
All of these changes were made to preserve commercial confidentiality (since publishing on their own would be considered disclosive).