Alcohol Policy UK

What's the future for the Late Night Levy & EMRO?

Since October 2012, Local Authorities have had the power to introduce a Late Night Levy (LNL) on premises opening after midnight under the PRSA 2011. The Levy is intended as a means of raising a contribution towards police and council accrued costs of the late-night economy.

However likely use of the Levy looks uncertain. Similarly no areas appear to have yet committed to use of Early Morning Restriction Orders (EMROs) to restrict the sale of alcohol between midnight and 6am.

According to a report in the Morning Advertiser, just 1% of councils say they plan to introduce either a LNL or EMRO, with over three quarters reportedly ruling them outaccording to a survey of 363 councils. A number of Local Authorities are however consulting on the use of the powers, such as Newcastle City Council and Milton Keynes. Blackpool and Hartlepool are understood to be considering EMROs.

A number of reasons for reluctance over the use of the powers seem apparent, ranging from insufficient expected revenue from the LNL, to legal concerns over being the first to implement new legislation. The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) have reportedly set up a 'fighting fund' to cover the cost of legal challenges against EMROs or the levy. In a BBC radio discussion, Brigid Simmonds of the BBPA argued that pubs would suffer if the on trade are further targeted, pointing out 70% of alcohol is now sold off-trade.

Cllr Brad Smith, Chairman of Bexley Council's Licensing Committee said "There are not a significant number of licensed premises which would be affected [in Bexley]... as little as only £1,000 per year would be raised". He emphasised the council had a strong process of using robust licence reviews on individual premises causing problems. In Great Yarmouth an EMRO was reportedly avoided when premises agreed to earlier voluntary closure of 4am from 6am.

History repeats?

In 2008 powers came in under the 2006 Violent Crime Reduction Act allowing Local Authorities to implement 'Alcohol Disorder Zones' (ADZs). ADZs were introduced to allow local authorities to impose charges on licensed premises to pay for the costs of addressing alcohol-related problems, but warnings proved true and none were ever implemented, though other powers within the 2006 act were more widely utilized. Will the LNL and EMRO be the new ADZ , or with the integration of public health within Local Authorities, is a "re-balancing" of the licensing act underway?

See www.gov.uk/alcohol-licensing or www.alcoholpolicy.net/licensing/ for licensing guidance and information.

Steve.morton@blackpool.gov.uk

Licensing information pack: toolkit supports data collection and decision making

The shadow London Health Improvement Board (LHIB) has co-ordinated the development of a Licensing Information Pack to support local licensing activity.

Download Licensing Information Pack: resources to inform local action on alcohol misuse (pdf)

Section One covers 'Information, Guidance & Tools', which outlines a range of local and national data sources; the organisations that collect them; and how to access the data.

Section Two presents four London case studies giving real-life examples of how the evidence base has been used to inform local area decision-making and licensing policy.

The development of the Information Pack followed feedback from delegates at the recent London Licensing Network Events. Delegates, who included licensing officers, trading standards officers, and the police, highlighted that issues around inter-agency information-sharing impeded the development of strategies to combat the negative impact of alcohol.

The Local Government Association (LGA) recently published guidance on Public health and alcohol licensing in England and other resources. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) recently released an alcohol public health briefing for local authorities. See here for an e-learning course on A&E data sharing and data sharing guidance.

All Home Office licensing guidance can be accessed here, including revised guidance issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 and amended guidance on the late night levy [pdf].

'Protecting People, Promoting Health: A public health approach to violence prevention for England'

A new report has been released by the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO):

'Protecting People, Promoting Health: A public health approach to violence prevention for England' [pdf]

'The report describes the major roles public health and health care services can play in reducing levels of violence across the country alongside their functions in dealing with the impacts of violence on health. The documents contain new figures on the cost of violence, estimating national costs to the NHS of £2.9 billion annually and a wider cost to society of £29.9 billion each year.

The report draws on the latest evidence that many of the key risk factors that make individuals, families and communities vulnerable to violence are changeable. Interventions are now available to reduce violence through improving childhood and by adapting the cultures and environments in which we live, learn and work. The report details:

• The extent and nature of violence
• Its impact on short and long term health and wellbeing, education and antisocial behaviour
• Risk and protective factors for involvement in violence
• The range of evidence based approaches we now have for preventing violence
• Related national policy and programmes'

As recently reported, an e-learning resource - Reducing Violence in your Community: Emergency Department Datasharing - was released alongside an ED Datasharing report and a number of data sharing case studies.

The Department of Health also recently released broader guidance on Information Sharing to Tackle Violence (pdf). It highlights how Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) can reduce violence in their community by encouraging A&Es to collect and share information on time, type and location of assault.

Home Office updates: New licensing powers come into effect 31st October; latest premises licences statistics

New Licensing powers will come into effect this week - see Home Office release. From the 31st October, local authorities will have the discretion to introduce Early Morning Restriction Orders (EMROs) and a 'late night levy' as part of plans to "re-balance" the licensing act through greater powers to councils and residents.

EMROs will allow local authorities to restrict the sale of alcohol between midnight and 6am - see EMRO factsheet. The late-night levy will allow charges to licences to contribute to the costs linked to late night drinking, such as extra policing and street cleaning - see late night levy fact sheet. Decisions on the powers were released earlier this year following a consultation.

The late-night levy and early morning alcohol restriction orders (EMROs) were set out in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. See here for the Government Alcohol Strategy or here for a series of factsheets on the licensing changes.

Premises license numbers 2011/12

The Home Office have released 2011/12 statistics for alcohol licensed premises and associated activities. The release highlights as "Headline figures":

• 202,000 premises licences, the same as on 31 March 2010; [up 3% on 2008]
• 15,900 club premises certificates, 6% fewer than in 2010; and
• 502,400 personal licences, 16% more than in 2010.

Of the 202,000 total premises licences, a Home Office briefing highlights:

• 35,500 premises were licensed for on-sales of alcohol only (up 1% on 2010);
• 51,100 premises were licensed for off-sales or supply of alcohol only (up 5%);
• 82,900 premises were licensed for on- or off-sales or supply (up 1%).
• The remaining 32,500 premises were not permitted to sell alcohol, down 9% on 2010

The statistics also show:

• An increase of 8% in the number of premises with 24 hour licenses
• An increase of 6% in 'Premises licences off-sales or supply of alcohol only'
• A decrease of 5% in 'Club premises certificates on-sales of alcohol only'

Download the full statistics here (xls) and full separate Home Office briefings here. See here for an interesting and perhaps still relevant 2009 report, 'Pubs aren't dying - they are evolving'.

London Health Improvement Board's alcohol priority takes shape

Since 2011, the shadow London Health Improvement Board (LHIB) has been working with a variety of partners to improve the health of all Londoners and reduce inequalities in health outcomes. The LHIB aims to deliver city-wide action to generate better outcomes for Londoners, with a particular focus on key areas of alcohol, obesity and cancer.

For the alcohol priority, work has been developing to deliver action on:

• Vision and Partnership - developing a London-wide vision for how London should view and relate to alcohol and a partnership framework t support action across sectors
• Licensing and Enforcement - supporting local authorities and their partners in creating a well-managed night time economy by developing a set of licensing and enforcement standards
• Early Intervention - ensuring that Identification and Brief Advice (IBA) is delivered effectively across a wide range of key settings in London including criminal justice, acute and primary care.

As part of the 'Early Intervention' work programme, an IBA Practitioners Network is currently being established to develop leadership and peer support around IBA delivery. The Network is currently seeking London practitioners from a range of health, social care and criminal justice settings who are committed to supporting IBA delivery. If you are a London based health or social care practitioner and committed to IBA delivery please get in touch.

In 2013, an Early Intervention and Prevention Leadership Summit event will take place to support the programme and ensure strategic buy-in and leadership.

Reducing violence through data: Emergency Department data sharing e-learning; DH Guidance on information sharing

A&E data sharing e-learning

An e-learning resource - Reducing Violence in your Community: Emergency Department Datasharing - has been released to support data sharing between the Accident and Emergency Departments (EDs) and Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs). In addition, an ED Datasharing report and a number of data sharing case studies are available.

The 30 minute e-learning course is designed to support better understanding of what information sharing is and how it can be used to support violence reduction. It may be useful for ED staff - from receptionists to consultants, CSP staff - from managers to analysts, Police and Crime Commissioners, Directors of Public Health, Staff in Clinical Commissioning Groups or Health Wellbeing Boards.

Guidance on information sharing to reduce violence

The Department of Health have released broader guidance on Information Sharing to Tackle Violence (pdf). It highlights how Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) can reduce violence in their community by encouraging A&Es to collect and share information on time, type and location of assault.

It identifies that CSPs, made up of local authorities, the Police and other local agencies, can share information to identify where violence is happening and inform local interventions to tackle it. It suggests interventions such as restricting alcohol licensing and targeting policing can have a big impact on community safety.

Securing and sharing good local data has long been a key challenge of effective local alcohol strategy to reduce related crime and disorder. As of this year, health authorities have also become a 'responsible authority' for local licensing decisions and the guidance states:

"Health bodies can present health-related evidence (where relevant to the licensing objectives), such as data on violence-related A&E attendances and ambulance callouts, to licensing authorities." (p.7)

Importantly health is still not a licensing objective, therefore any evidence still has to meet existing objectives such as prevention of crime and disorder. Many health authorities appear to have been struggling to contribute any new data to the process - alcohol-related A&E data has historically been difficult to collect, and ambulance of police data often not specific or detailed enough. The "Cardiff model" of A&E data sharing (or full report) was considered a groundbreaking project in this area.

A list of Home Office factsheets on the licensing changes are available.

London alcohol reports: Alcohol consumption in the night-time economy; Alcohol treatment pathways and outcomes

Two new alcohol reports for London have been released:

Alcohol Consumption in the Night Time Economy (NTE)

A new report from GLAEconomics assesses the most effective ways to mitigate costs associated with alcohol in the NTE. It is combined with an economic tool which estimates pros and cons for each London Local Authority.

• Section 1: What is the night-time economy (NTE) and what are the associated problems?
• Section 2: Why does the NTE generate these costs?
• Section 3: What to consider before developing a NTE policy?
• Section 4: What policy tools can reduce the problems associated with the NTE?

Download Alcohol consumption in the night-time economy.pdf or the summary and methodology.pdf. You can also access a pros and cons tool.xls. A recent report offered guidance on tackling NTE alcohol problems, or see our NTE categories list of posts.

Alcohol treatment: pathways and outcomes

In 2011 a London Alcohol Practitioners Forum event explored the variation between alcohol treatment pathways in London and how these could be improved. The report explores pathways, examples and outcome measures including Payment by Results (PbR): 

Alcohol treatment: pathways and outcomes - a report of the practitioners event supported by the GLA, LDAN, LDAPF and other partners [pdf]

NICE has produced alcohol pathways resources to support commissioners as part of wider set of resources. In 2009 the Department of Health produced 'Local routes: alcohol treatment pathways guidance'. Further local examples of pathways development can be found on the Alcohol Learning Centre local initiatives pages.

Briefing released to support Police and Crime Commissioners with election campaign policies on alcohol

Alcohol Concern have released a briefing for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) candidates to help them form policies on alcohol-related issues in their election campaigns.

From November 2012 PCCs will be elected in each of the 41 police force area in England and Wales, and will be responsible for local police and crime plans as well as rewarding grants to organisations that reduce local crime. They have previously been highlighted as having an important role to play in alcohol-related crime and influencing wider alcohol issues and partnerships.

The briefing includes a summary of policy recommendations for PCC candidates including:

• Take an active role in licensing decisions
• Ensure tougher enforcement of alcohol free zones, under age sales, serving people when drunk
• Prioritise drink driving campaigns and clampdowns
• Use budgets to invest in alcohol treatment services and signpost offenders (e.g. cautioned) to alcohol treatment services
• Liaise effectively with A&E
• Campaign for minimum pricing

It also highlights the imapct of alcohol on crime, particualy violent crime and domestic violence.

A recent Drugscope briefing also assessed the role of PCCs for the field.

The Home Office has produced guidance to support interested parties. The Local Government Association (LGA) have also highlighted a list of useful publications relevant to the PCCs and local partnerships.

Tackling alcohol problems in the night time economy: guidance for local areas

A new resource has been released to support local areas in tacking alcohol problems associated with the Night Time Economy (NTE):

Download Tackling alcohol problems in the night time economy (pdf)

The guide has been released by the London Drug and Alcohol Policy Forum (LDAPF) in partnership with Department of Health and Greater London Authority following an event last year.

LDAPF will also be jointly hosting the City Health 2012 event in the City of London's Guildhall in October - download the City Health Flyer here.

A series of licensing changes are being brought about to help address alcohol-related NTE problems, including the late-night levy and early morning alcohol restriction orders (EMROs) as set out in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. See here for a series of factsheets on the licensing changes and supporting guidance. However a report last year warned enforcement alone wouldn't solve such issues.

An Alcohol Concern NTE factsheet is also available, or see the Alcohol Policy UK NTE category. See here for presentations from a previous London NTE event in 2009.

Home Office decisions on EMROs and Late Night Levy following consultation

The government has published its response to the consultation Dealing with the Problems of Late Night Drinking [pdf]. Draft legislation has been laid in parliament so that later this year local councils will be able to:

• use early morning alcohol restriction orders (EMROs) to restrict the sale of alcohol in all or part of their areas between midnight and 6am
• charge a levy for late-night licences to contribute to the cost of extra policing, and other costs linked to late-night drinking like street cleaning 

The consultation response outlines the following decisions:

EMROS

• Persons that may be affected by an EMRO will have 42 days to make relevant representations for, or against, a proposed EMRO. (Paragraph 2.06)
• Licensing authorities will be required to notify licensed premises that would be included in the scope of a proposed EMRO, rather than all licensed premises in the licensing authority area. (Paragraph 2.07)
• A proposal to introduce an EMRO should be publicised on the licensing authority’s website and in their local newspaper. (Paragraph 2.07)
• EMROs will not apply on New Year’s Eve. (Paragraph 2.10)
• There will be no exemptions from EMROs. There will be provision to ensure that premises with overnight accommodation can still provide room service and mini-bars, if they are included in the scope of an EMRO. (Paragraph 2.17-2.18)

LATE NIGHT LEVY 

• Local residents can use their existing rights to make representations and other channels of communication to call for the implementation of the levy in their area. (Paragraph 3.04)
• Premises with overnight accommodation (Paragraph 3.09), theatres, cinemas (Paragraph 3.12), bingo halls (Paragraph 3.14), CASCs (Paragraph 3.16), community premises (Paragraph 3.17), country village pubs (Paragraph 3.18) and BIDs (Paragraph 3.20) will be available as a discretionary local exemption from the levy.
• Restaurants (Paragraph 3.11), casinos (Paragraph 3.14) and private member’s clubs (Paragraph 3.26) will not be available as a discretionary local exemption from the levy.
• The levy will not apply on New Year’s Eve. (Paragraph 3.29)
• Licensing authorities will be able to offer a 30% reduction from the levy for best practice schemes that meet relevant criteria (Paragraph 3.34) and pubs that are in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief and have a rateable value below £12,000 (Paragraph 3.45).
• There will be no cumulative discounts from the levy. (Paragraph 3.40)
• Licensing authorities will be able to fund services that are connected to the management of the night-time economy and services that prevent and tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder with their revenue from the levy. (Paragraph 3.56)

The late-night levy and early morning alcohol restriction orders (EMROs) were set out in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. The full consultation details are set out here.

See here for a series of factsheets on the licensing changes.