Alcohol Policy UK

Home Office launches £4 million Binge Drinking campaign

The Home Office has launched a 'new, hard-hitting national advertising campaign to drive home the serious consequences of binge drinking to 18 to 24 year olds'. The campaign was launched this week by the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and will include television, print and online adverts.

In a Home Office press release for the campaign it was announced the centre piece would be 'two new television adverts that graphically highlight the consequences of binge drinking by reversing the sequence of a night out gone wrong. The adverts show a man and woman getting ready at home for a night out. They end with the man leaving home bloody and damaged and the woman closing her front door with smeared make-up and vomit in her hair.' One of the adverts can be seen in a Guardian article here.

The latest communications strategy comes shortly after the launch of  the Department of Health's £10 million 'Know Your Limits' campaign, aimed at raising awareness over units and supported by the units website. However we recently reported scepticism over such campaigns following a series of media reports and health professionals questioning their effectiveness.

A wide range of media campaigns are now being streamed, including Diageo's 'The choice is yours' campaign which is supported by a number of television adverts; to see one click here. The Department for Transport also recently launched a new Think! Summer drink driving campaign  focusing on the personal and legal consequences of drink driving. Add these to the range of local and regional campaigns and it seems the amount of alcohol messages has snowballed over the last year. However are these campaigns an effective use of resources? Let us know your thoughts below!

1 in 3 councils expect to use Alcohol Disorder Zones

A survey carried out by the Local Government Association (LGA) has found varying levels of expected use of Alcohol Disorder Zones (ADZs) by local authorities. In a press release from the LGA, it was announced:

The survey of 182 councils in England and Wales, carried out by TNS for the Local Government Association, found that 33% were not going to adopt ADZs, 34% were going to and 33% were still to decide. The survey also revealed that almost a quarter of councils (24%) said they expected to recoup the costs of operating ADZs through the charging regime, while 41% said they did not.

However there has been significant scepticism over the expected benefits of ADZs, with warnings over the impact coming from both the media and representatives of the night time economies, such as from a senior business leader in Liverpool.

Youth Alcohol Action Plan published

From the DCSF press office:
A comprehensive plan to stop young people drinking in public; help them make the right decisions about alcohol; and provide clear information to parents and young people about the risks of early drinking was announced today by Ed Balls, Jacqui Smith and Alan Johnson in the Government’s Youth Alcohol Action Plan.

The Action Plan sets out what the Government will do to address drinking by young people in three main ways:

• Working with police and the courts to stop it, making it clear that unsupervised drinking by young people under-18 in public places is unacceptable
• Recognising that drinking by young people in the home is clearly the responsibility of parents and families, but providing clearer health information for parents and young people about how consumption of alcohol can affect children and young people. The Action Plan announces that the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson will produce clear guidelines for families
• Working with the alcohol industry to continue the good progress made to reduce the sale of alcohol to under-18s but also in marketing and promoting alcohol in a more responsible way.

While the proportion of young people who drink regularly has fallen, the consumption of alcohol by those who do drink has risen sharply. And the ways in which young people are drinking have changed. The Youth Alcohol Action Plan promises a powerful package of action to tackle this:

• New laws to stop young people drinking in public places, including a new offence to tackle persistent possession of alcohol
• New authoritative guidelines from the Chief Medical Officer about young people, alcohol and health
• Establishing a new partnership with parents by providing them with clear information they need to guide their children towards low risk drinking
• Supporting and encouraging young people themselves through publicity campaigns and education in schools to make the right decisions about alcohol.

Drink and drug driving campaign launched in Leicestershire

Leicestershire Constabulary's Road Policing Unit has launched its annual Drink and Drug  Driving Campaign, encouraging members of the public to pass on information about anyone driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A Loughborough news report quoted Inspector Vivienne Brenchley, commander of the Road Policing Unit who said:

This year we want to encourage members of the public to report drink and drug drivers by increasing the ways in which they can contact us.

Obviously if you spot a suspected drink or drug driver on the road then call Leicestershire Constabulary as normal on 0116 222 2222 or in an emergency on 999, so that officers in the area can be alerted.

The campaign has started just after the Department of Transport launched the latest stage in its Think! Drink Driving campaign and the Local Alcohol Strategy Implementation Toolkit, launched earlier in the year, encouraged local authorities to consider developing local drink driving campaigns in line with national communications.

New London Mayor bans alcohol on public transport

Boris Johnson, the new mayor for London has banned alcohol on public transport as his first policy announcement since coming into power. The 'ban' will take effect from June the 1st 2008.  The move has caused a number of concerns about how it will be enforced, particularly as the only punishment will be ejection from the transport. 

The new rules on drinking on London's transport will be made by changing London Transport's conditions of carriage, since bringing in the byelaw necessary for legal action such as on the spot fines is expected to take a year. In an article in the Guardian, the British Transport Police are reported to have backed the move although organisations such as transport unions have opposed the move.

Off license pilot banning sales to under 21's reportedly a success

A scheme in West Lothain, Scotland has reduced violence and vandalism calls by 50%, a BBC article reports. The findings are based on a 6 week period in which alcohol sales to under 21's were banned and anyone under 25 would be asked for identification. However the chief inspector for the area reported that whilst the findings were very positive, they needed further consideration in the context of other changes since the previous year such as the development of neighbourhood policing.

Concerns raised over Alcohol Disorder Zones

The Telegraph reports a parliamentary committee has said Alcohol Disorder Zones (ADZs) 'will fail' in their aim to curb alcohol related crime and disorder. ADZs were introduced as part of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006  to help local authorities to combat alcohol related disorder following changes brought about by the Licensing Act 2003.

ADZs are due to be launched this year, but the House of Lords report has accused the scheme of being 'unduly bureacratic' and unclear. No ADZ schemes appear to be have been launched yet although other powers, such as police directions to leave powers, are being used.

Female drink offences 'soar' shows channel 4 news

A report by channel 4 news has shown that drink offences by women have increased by as much as 1000%, according to figures obtained from police forces across the country. The Guardian reports this equates to an overall 50% rise over the last five years. The findings  follow the recent announcment that alcohol fuelled violence by women has risen 60% in Scotland. In response to channel 4's findings, Mike Craik, chief constable of Northumbria police expressed the need to look further towards reviewing the pricing of alcohol, discounting promotions and advertising as well as further action on underage drinking. Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern highlighted that promoters are still targeting young women with drinks promotion and cheap alcohol, as the industry has not passed on increases in alcohol duty to the consumer.

In response the Home Office said it would be launching a further multi-million pound alcohol campaign in the summer.

Partnership approach is working in underage drinking scheme

A Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP) scheme in St Neotts, Cambridgeshire, has reported positive results since it began last year, details an article in the The Hunts Post. The scheme has brought together police, trading standards, schools and charities in response to concerns from the community and local residents about high levels of underage drinking.

It has resulted in a local Tesco providing a security guard in its car park on Friday afternoons  specifically to prevent adults purchasing alcohol for those under the legal purchasing age of 18. It has also resulted in a significant reduction in the number of confiscations of alcohol from young people and there are plans to expand the partnership approach across the region. The success of the scheme has reportedly caught the interest of the Home Office who are considering promoting it as best practise in addressing underage drinking.

Women and Alcohol: Scotland sees 60% rise in alcohol-fuelled violence by women

A 60% rise in violence by women in Scotland over the last the last 5 years is fuelled by the growing 'ladette' culture, an article in the Sunday Times claims. Senior police officers are reported to have confirmed alcohol's role in the increases, particularly as murder rates have remained constant but figures for assaults have risen sharply. The rise has also caused concern about the implications for the criminal justice system, with the number of women in prison rising by 90% in the last decade.

Earlier this month an article by Ian Gilmore, the president of the Royal College of Physicians, considered the cultural shift of drinking amongst women, its consequences and the policy context for addressing it.