The national
Well, there were plenty of interesting movements in 2009 for the alcohol policy field, setting up an interesting but certainly challenging year ahead. The pricing debate seemed to dominate the political policy landscape, with various health and market interests still fighting their corners. However public scepticism appears to remain the decisive factor, though the government claim not to have ruled it out, pending further research. In the meantime the Home Office have vowed to stick with the mandatory code despite recurrent rumours of it being scrapped.
Meanwhile Scotland have been demonstrating the difficulty in attempting to bring in minimum pricing measures facing political opposition and the threat of a possible breach of EU competition law. So for now, minimum pricing seems to remain a somewhat theoretical discussion as a national policy, but local areas such as Oldham have been attempting targeted local approaches through licensing review powers.
However the imminent general election will be of key significance to the future of the pricing debate. The Tories are proposing further 'targeted taxes' instead, but also promising to axe the current licensing regime, itself a hot topic. At the 2009 Labour conference the Prime Minster conceded the 2003 Licensing Act had not reduced alcohol-fuelled crime and disorder in many areas, but argued for further use of powers to address drunken troublemakers and problematic premises. This chimed with 2009 Home Office guidance for preventing alcohol-related disorder that stated "All the research indicates that crime and disorder remains stable since the introduction of the [2003 Licensing] Act but that the powers are being underused."
The Professor Nutt affair was also high profile and demonstrated the difficult distinction between advisory and campaigning roles. Nutt, who is currently developing a synthetic alcohol substitute, was sacked by the Home Secretary whilst calling for a drugs classification system that further reflected the harm of legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco.
On the eve of 2010, centre-right think tank Policy Exchange released a press release claiming excessive drinking on New Year's Eve alone would cost the NHS up to £23 million. Highlighting the rising trend of acute alcohol-related hospital admissions, they have proposed that 'those admitted to hospital for less than 24 hours with acute alcohol intoxication should be charged the NHS tariff cost for their admission of £532. This amount would be reduced for those paying the costs of their own alcohol education and awareness course.'
However alcohol wasn't just in the national framework through politics - alcohol messages highlighting unit awareness, health and binge drinking risks adorned us from all angles. Cynics (particularly of industry funded campaigns) were outspoken, but at least the discussion was happening, even if alcohol awareness week only succeeded locally. Social marketing however was possibly the 2009 buzz-word, championing a better understanding our target audience to achieve behaviour change - expect more in 2010.
The local
Of key importance in 2009, the attention, skills and in some cases resources for alcohol at a local and regional level continued to develop rapidly. For health, the development of the the Department of Health's Alcohol Improvement Programme (AIP) and regional action kicked in, with the Alcohol Learning Centre an ever-expanding resource of guidance, tools and learning. Key 2009 alcohol documents such as 'Signs for improvement' and the most recent pathways guidance were also released to support commissioners, whilst HubCAPP has continued to showcase innovative and better evaluated local practice examples from across the country.
On the crime and disorder agenda, the Home office has continued to roll out guidance and legislation to tackle the impact of alcohol-related disorder. Of key significance: the practical guide for dealing with alcohol-related problems, the somewhat cautionary alcohol arrest referral guidance and the launch of Drinking Banning Orders (DBOs). Older measures such as Controlled Drinking Zones continued to be adopted despite protestations of excessive use, but Alcohol Disorder Zones (ADZs) remained unused as a measure to make premises pay extra when impacting on the local area.
Our new social enterprise the AERC Alcohol Academy also launched in 2009, set up to promote and support skills and learning for strategic alcohol leads. The Academy plans to focus on supporting the development of High Impact Changes and key issues for local alcohol approaches such as commissioning skills, alcohol use amongst the elderly and the largely unknown impact of cocaethylene. Equity of access to alcohol treatment & interventions, and new opportunities such as exploring new settings for brief interventions (IBA) are also key areas we will be seeking to develop.
However, with the forthcoming public sector squeeze there will be significant challenges to maintain the alcohol agenda's 2009 momentum. Those tasked with delivering alcohol policy will need to focus on demonstrating cost-savings and seize opportunities for integration into wider health and community safety agendas. But with the continuing dialogue on the impact of alcohol-related harm and an improving understanding of effective responses, the opportunities to reign in the burden of alcohol-related harm will still be there.
And a selection of some key Alcohol Policy UK reports from 2009
January - March
- Chief Medical Officer proposes alcohol-free childhood for under-15s
- Whose cider you on? - concerns over impact of white cider
- Chief Medical Officer calls for minimum pricing
- British teenagers amongst worst for binge drinking
April - June
- NHS healthchecks - a missed opportunity?
- Welfare reform eyes up alcoholics claiming benefits
- Welsh alcohol health profile published
- JRF report examines transferable lessons for alcohol policy
- 2009 Alcohol Statistics for England released
June - July
- Alcohol commissioning and data tools released
- Parliamentary review highlights gaps in alcohol treatment
- Alcohol Disorder Zones not being used
- AERC Alcohol Academy launch event
- 'Signs for improvement' commissioning guidance released
- BMA calls for alcohol advertising ban
August
- Areas supported to act on Alcohol Awareness week
- Home Office release 'practical guide' for addressing alcohol problems
- Group campaigns against 'controlled drinking zones'
- Panorama covers Oldham's local 'minimum pricing' approach
- 'Pubs aren't dying - they are evolving'
September
- WHO gives guidance to EU states on alcohol strategy
- Cocaethylene use rising but awareness still low
- Alcohol Concern: Supermarkets keeping shoppers in the dark
- 'Stealth' drinking risk as home consumption rises
October
- Falls in alcohol consumption but long term trend not clear
- NW Public Health Directors call together on minimum pricing
- Documentaries on alcohol including Horizon's 'Do I drink too much?'
- Tories stick to targeted taxes on high strength alcohol
- Industry to promote low-alcohol drinks
November
- Alcohol Arrest Referral Guide identifies challenges
- Scotland's minimum pricing move still battling opposition
- Oldham progresses action on irresponsible drinks promotions at supermarkets
- Internet-based interventions could be effective
- How alcohol policy works in England: a research and study analysis
December
RSS feed
Comments