Report says alcohol enforcement laws are not fully used, but enforcement alone is not the solution

A new report explores whether UK laws relating to the sale and consumption of alcohol are 'fit for purpose' and are being effectively enforced. The report finds that many laws are not being fully utilised, although a variety of measures are still required to achieve alcohol harm reduction.

Download ‘Lost Orders?: Law Enforcement and Alcohol in England and Wales’ or download the Executive Summary.

The report, commissioned by the Portman Group, was authored by Dr Fiona Measham of Lancaster University and research consultant Dr Phil Hadfield. It finds that laws designed to tackle underage drinking are not being used to their maximum effect, and that enforcement is rarely actioned against consumers rather than suppliers.

In a press release, Dr Measham said that prosecuting individuals for offences such as underage drinking, proxy sales and the serving of alcohol to intoxicated persons were regarded as too expensive and time consuming to pursue. The findings appear to re-iterate past messages that the 2003 Licensing Act powers have not been fully utilised - 2009 Home Office alcohol guidance referenced evidence that crime and disorder had remained stable but powers were underused.

Dr Phil Hadfield said: “One of the main messages of our findings is that there seems little point in Government introducing new tough sounding measures to tackle alcohol-related harms in the community if these laws are not actually enforced in practice. The rush to introduce new legislation has occurred at the expense of ensuring that the laws we already have are being implemented and effectively used.”

The report emphasises the importance of partnership working, local innovation and a greater recognition of health priorities. It also highlights that "regulation works best when embedded within community focused multi-component programmes (MCPs) that encompass broader approaches to harm reduction". A comprehensive report on multi-component pogrammes to reduce alcohol-related harm was published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2007.

A factsheet on Alcohol, crime and disorder in the Night Time Economy was published last year, and a recent London event explored some current initiaives including Licensing reform.

Comments

[Spencer]

That's interesting. I didn't know about the alcohol laws in the UK. I'm from the US, and I've been interested in alcohol problems and laws in the university system. There's a lot of cases of schools liberally allowing underage drinking and alcohol on campus. Some universities even have deals with local police forces (depending on the schools size) to not bust on campus parties. It's becoming a major problem that's not getting nearly enough attention. I hope that more university age students will get behind a better system in order to end the excess.

[James Morris]

Thanks Spencer,that's an interesting point. However do you think it's likely that it would be students themselves that would call for reform?