Alcohol Policy UK

Safe. Sensible. Social. Selling Alcohol Responsibly - consultation events

The Home Office are running a series of ten events around England and Wales in July and August 2009 as part of the consultation on the code of practice for alcohol retailers.  They want participants from the alcohol retail industry, licensing authorities, health bodies or enforcement agencies.

These events "will inform the future development of this policy in order to ensure that it gets the balance right by achieving reductions in alcohol related harms such as nuisance, crime and disorder, public safety, protection of children and the health impact, in a targeted and proportionate way that does not harm businesses that are behaving responsibly."

The dates are:

• Newcastle 7 July
• Hull 9 July
• Liverpool 14 July
• Nottingham 16 July
• Birmingham 21 July
• Cambridge 23 July
• Portsmouth 28 July
• Cardiff 30 July
• Weymouth 4 August
• London 6 August

Details and registration here.

INEBRIA 2009 conference, 8-9 October

The 6th Annual Conference of INEBRIA 2009: Breaking New Ground
The BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle/ Gateshead UK on  8th-9th October 2009

The organisers of the 6th Annual Conference of INEBRIA 2009 (International Network on Brief Interventions for Alcohol Problems) announce this two day scientific conference that aims to address some outstanding issues in the field of screening and brief interventions (SBI) for alcohol use disorders. The conference is highly policy relevant and would be of interest to health professionals, public health practitioners, commissioners and researchers working in the field of alcohol use both nationally and internationally.

Three plenary speakers with international reputations in the field of SBI and have been confirmed:

• Dr Peter Anderson, Public Health Consultant
• Professor Eileen Kaner, Chair of Public Health Research, Newcastle University
• Professor Jonathan Shepherd, Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Cardiff University

The forth plenary space will be awarded to the best submitted abstract.

Full conference fees/ early registration by 31st July 2009 = £75 (late registration from 1st August 2009 = £125) Concessionary rates are available for full-time students and delegates from developing and transitional countries.

Individuals are invited to submit abstracts to present at the 6th Annual Conference of INEBRIA 2009. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 12th June 2009.  Call for abstracts here

Further details about the conference including how to register can be found at the conference website or download details here

Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder information and conference dates

The charity Foetal Alcohol Aware Syndrome UK has launched dates of two conferences aimed at raising awareness and responses to issues relating to Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The low-priced conferences, entitled “What is it? How it happens.  Its impact on education” will take place in Manchester and North Wales on the following dates:

• Manchester: Thursday 19th March 2009 FASD Manchester flyer and info leaflet
• North Wales: 27th March 2009 FASD North Wales flyer
  

For further details or information please contact FASawareUK:
Phone: 01942-223780
Fax: 01942-223780
Email: fasawareuk@blueyonder.co.uk

Previous post on alcohol in pregnancy including guidance documents from the BMA and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists here.

LDAN and Alcohol Policy UK themed alcohol workshops

LDAN and Alcohol Policy UK have teamed up once again to present a brand new series of themed alcohol workshops for 2008/09.

Forthcoming events include:

• Dual diagnosis and alcohol...still falling through the gaps?

         19th November 2008

• Alcohol, faith and culture...supporting diverse communities
  

          18th December 2008

• Alcohol and street populations...multi-agency approaches

          23rd January 2009

• Housing continuing drinkers...points of intervention

          20th February 2009

Each workshop will cover:

•  the evidence on prevalence and best practice
•  current policy frameworks
•  tensions and possible solutions
•  interesting practice

Who should attend?

• Policy makers
• Service planners
• Practitioners

The first in the series: “Older People and Alcohol – A Demographic Time bomb?” took place on Thursday October 16th. A report on the seminar will be released shortly.

The workshops are FREE to attend but places are limited. To book please email info@ldan.org.uk with you name, job title, organisation and phone number or call 020 7704 0004 to speak to Ruth McQueen or Shona Flannigan (All sessions run from 2-4.30pm in a central London location, full venue details supplied on booking).

About us: Alcohol Policy UK is the news and analysis website for the alcohol harm reduction field that was set up by Libby Ranzetta in 2005. Contributors are an informal network of consultants, researchers and practitioners, keen to share learning and ideas. Our motto: nonus wheela reinventare.

LDAN is the London Drug and Alcohol Network – developing substance misuse policy and supporting the capital’s treatment sector. (www.ldan.org.uk) to book

These workshops are supported by GLADA (The Greater London Alcohol and Drug Alliance).

3rd National Alcohol Conference, Safe.Sensible.Social – delivering in partnership

The next national alcohol conference will take place on 4 – 5 November 2008 in Nottingham with the focus on delivering in partnerships including:

• What has happened since the launch of Safe.Sensible.Social. in 2007?
• What does the data tell us about the challenges  we face to reduce alcohol misuse? Children, young people and alcohol
• Examples of effective interventions developed by organisations delivering in partnership

The conference is free to attend but places must be obtained by registering an interest here.

Alcohol Liaison Seminar, Wednesday 11th June, updated programme

The upcoming Alcohol Liaison Seminar for nurses and drugs or alcohol workers with an interest in alcohol liaison in hospital or healthcare settings, has a slightly revised programme, though will still be taking place on the 11th June in Leicestershire.

The updated programme and to book your place here

The previous event and audio presentations here

Alcohol Liaison Seminar, Wednesday 11th June

An Alcohol Liaison Seminar will take place on Wednesday 11th June 2008 in Leicestershire, following the success of forums in 2006 and 2007. The event is expected to be attended mainly by nurses and alcohol/drug workers in hospital or healthcare settings, although commissioners or service managers may wish to enquire about availability.

Further details on the event and how to book your place here

We reported on the previous event, with audio and presentations here.

Seminar on alcohol licensing and drinking culture

A seminar entitled Alcohol Licensing: café culture or city centre chaos? takes place next month on the 7th May in Enfield to look at the debates around current licensing policy and its impact. The seminar will consider a range of research including the recently released report Implementation of the Licensing Act 2003: A National Survey which closely examines the findings of national research on the impacts of the licensing act. This follows the recent  review of the 2003 licensing act.

The National Survey report broadly supports the review in finding that there has not been a consistent impact across the country, and there has been little significant change for better or for worse. However, the National Survey provides a detailed analysis of the challenges and responses facing local authorities and the policy and cultural context of the changes, as well as providing a range of recommendations.

More details

• Middlesex University Criminology Research Centre seminar series
• Alcohol Licensing: café culture or city centre chaos? Betsy Thom, Professor of Health Policy
• Time: 4.30 - 6pm on May 7th
• Venue: Enfield Campus, Queensway, Enfield EN3 4SA; Broadbent Building, room 52

NERAF holds alcohol misuse symposium

The North East Regional Alcohol Forum, an independant peer support charity, this week held an Alcohol Misuse Symposium in Newcastle. The event brought together key speakers including:

• Kevan Martin (NERAF) to talk about the NERAF model
• Dr Weatherhead (GP) on alcohol treatment from the GP's perspective
• Dr Fiona Measham (Lancaster University) on young people and exteme/binge drinking
• Dr Josie Galloway (Glasgow Caledonian) on young people and patterns of alcohol misuse
• Rob Strachan (Government Office North East) on regional alcohol policy
• Sarah-Jane Lilley (Government Office North East) on alcohol and Domestic Violence

A number of workshops were also held to disucss the current issues facing these areas, so watch this space for a report on the event.

Community Partnerships to Reduce Alcohol-related Harm Conference, 16th April, Bath

Community Partnerships to Reduce Alcohol-related Harm Conference
sponsored by AERC (Alcohol Education and Research Council)
Wednesday April 16, University of Bath

‘…local partnerships are well placed to understand how alcohol affects their local communities (and) use the current and developing delivery frameworks to reduce alcohol-related harm …’ (Safe, Sensible, Social, p.66).

This one-day event will bring together key people with an active interest in Community Partnerships to Reduce Alcohol-related Harm, and address issues related to opportunities for and barriers to successful interventions.

Speakers will include:

• the Chair of the Alcohol Education and Research Council
• Leaders of community alcohol projects in Glasgow, Cardiff, Birmingham
• Dr Willm Mistral, Professor Richard Velleman, Lorna Templeton, Dr Claudia Mastache
  • evaluators AERC UK Community Alcohol Prevention Programme
  • co-authors Local Action to Prevent Alcohol Problems: is the UK Community Alcohol Prevention Programme (UKCAPP) the best solution?  International Journal of Drug Policy.
• Dr Betsy Thom
  
  • alcohol and drugs research co-ordinating editor for Drugs: Education Prevention and Policy
  • co-author Multi-component programmes: an approach to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm (Joseph Rowntree Foundation).
• Professor Martin Plant
  • Professor of Addiction Studies, University of the West of England
  • co-author Binge Britain: Alcohol and the National Response
• Robert Humphries
  • Chairman PASS; Honorary Secretary, All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group
• Sarah Ward
  • Alcohol Concern, HubCAPP: Hub of Commissioned Alcohol Projects and Policies.
• Panel Discussion: Alcohol Industry; National Policy; Local Action

This is an invitation only event.  Please respond to Dr Willm Mistral W.Mistral@bath.ac.uk