Alcohol Policy UK

The £15M for alcohol interventions: it's in the bank

If you are wondering when your PCT will receive its allocation of new money for alcohol interventions, well, it's already arrived as part of the PCT's general uplift for 2007/08.  As discussed previously, the money is not badged in any way, so unless it has already been assigned to alcohol work, you need to fight for it.

If you'd like some ideas or further information, get in touch.

What is this new money?
How much is each PCT getting?

Alcohol interventions with domestic violence arrestees, Lewisham

Claire Sibson writes:

According to the 2001 British Crime Survey, 26% of women and 17% of men have experienced at least one incident of domestic violence since they were 16. Whilst there is not a simple causal link between alcohol and domestic violence, research shows  a significant association between the two.  Alcohol appears to be important in escalating existing conflict, and levels of consumption are related to the likelihood, and severity, of domestic violence (Quigley and Leonard, 2000;White and Chen, 2002).

A 2003 Home Office  research study on  the characteristics of Domestic Violence Offenders identified alcohol as  a feature in a majority (62%) of the offences studied, with almost half (48%) of the sample of perpetrators being alcohol dependent. A key recommendation of this study was that problems of alcohol use should be addressed where identified as an offending-related need.

Lewisham has the  highest volume of reported domestic violence across the  London boroughs (Greater London Domestic Violence Project, 2007) with  a steady increase in numbers from 2003 to 2006. To date, there has been no  specific collection of data on how many of these featured  alcohol. My post as an alcohol/domestic violence worker was set up as a six month pilot, funded largely by the Government Office of London  Domestic Violence Fund, with the aims:

1. To test  the association between alcohol and domestic violence at a local level
2. To test the feasibility of delivering voluntary alcohol assessment and brief interventions to domestic violence perpetrators in the custody suite at Lewisham Police Station.

With the support and cooperation of Lewisham Police Community Safety Unit, and of custody staff, I have been introducing myself to all domestic violence arrestees, and inviting them to participate in a brief alcohol assessment (AUDIT).  The voluntary nature of this intervention is emphasized, with the use of consent forms,  and it is made clear that it will have no bearing on  the outcome of the police investigation.

I have been operational since early February.  Initially, it had been agreed  that the investigating police officer would invite the prisoner  to see  me. This approach produced few referrals, so it was decided that I would  introduce myself.  This change of tack   worked, and  I have so far  assessed 29 people, the majority of whom have accepted onward signposting or formal referral to local alcohol services.  The majority of this group have been drinking at  a harmful level, though I have seen 5  dependent drinkers, none of whom had had any past contact with local treatment services.

My post is funded up to June 30th, and  the issue of onward funding remains uncertain. I think this short pilot  has already achieved its aims, confirming that there is a significant pool of people locally whose drinking is exacerbating their domestic violence, and that their arrest  can provide a good opportunity for alcohol intervention.  Given an extension of the project, it would be possible to set longer term objectives around retention in treatment and reconviction for example.

This appears to be the only such project running nationally in a police station context, though it has  features in common with the brief alcohol interventions currently being developed  with A & E and hospital inpatient populations, which parallel has provided me with   some good contacts. I would be really interested in discussing my work  with others  involved in  developing “ joined up” services in alcohol/domestic violence, whether from a treatment or a criminal justice angle.

Claire Sibson Alcohol/Domestic Violence Worker
23 Mercia Grove London
SE13 6BJ

0208 314 8078

Alcohol Concern says to PCTs: show us the money

Alcohol Concern is challenging Primary Care Trusts to account for the extra funds they received to improve alcohol services in their area. Public Health Minister, Caroline Flint announced last year that £15 million was earmarked to help PCTs improve the commissioning and delivery of alcohol treatment services but there is growing evidence that some PCTs have not yet assigned the money.

With no national targets to reduce alcohol misuse, treatment providers are are concerned that the money will be lost in the general scramble to plug widespread deficits or fund other programmes. To help services bid for this new money Alcohol Concern has released details of the sum that each PCT will have been given by the Department of Health for the coming year (see below).

Don Shenker, Director of Policy and Services for Alcohol Concern says: This is further evidence of the need for Government to set aside ring fenced money for alcohol treatment, like it does for drugs. Until then, alcohol services will always be treated as the poor relation to drugs treatment and may well miss out on other new health funding initiatives. In a situation where 17 out of 18 people who need treatment arent able to receive it, this cant continue.

While some PCTs are using these funds to reduce alcohol harms, every penny counts and we hope that all PCTs will spend this money on the vital work for which it was intended.

Mike Webb, an Alcohol Lead for the Hampshire PCT area says: The Drug Pooled Treatment Budget is ring fenced and cannot be used for clients with a primary alcohol misuse problem. With this new funding available, a lot more could be done to support those with alcohol misuse problems and to enable them to access treatment in a more timely manor. We would welcome working in partnership with the local PCT in order to make a real difference to local issues, that we both face, in this field.

Mark Sanger, Community Safety Manager for the London Borough of Enfield says: It is disappointing that the new money hasn't been ringfenced, as this means some PCTs will find it difficult to prioritise using it for alcohol interventions. Unfortunately, this is the case in Enfield, despite a strong local partnership on alcohol harm reduction. We would like to see the Department of Health put pressure on PCTs to use the funding for alcohol interventions.  Alcohol Concern

More information
Background to the £15M
Allocations of the £15M per PCT (download)

Tackling young people's drinking pt87: UV markings on alcohol containers

Police on Arran are using hi-tech methods in their fight against under-age drinking. Bottles of alcohol sold in some off-licensed premises on the island have unique reference numbers, which are invisible to the naked eye but are readable under ultra-violet light. Each reference number can help police trace where the bottle was bought from and, using till receipts and CCTV images, police can find out who bought the alcohol.

Sergeant Alister Kelly, licensing sergeant for Ayrshire Division, told The Arran Banner the initiative would primarily target adults who buy alcohol for youths. He added: ‘Youngsters wait outside the shop and ask people passing by to buy them alcohol. We’re trying to raise awareness among the adults who will be fined up to £1,000 if found guilty of supplying alcohol to under-age drinkers.

‘The idea is to stop the youngsters getting hold of alcohol and prevent the anti-social behaviour that comes with it. ‘You find youngsters that have been drinking in places you wouldn’t want them to be, so there’s a public safety aspect to this as well.’ The radical initiative has been put to use on mainland Ayrshire as a pilot scheme between 29 January and 31 March but there is enough concern over under-age drinking on the island to put it into practice here. The Co-op stores on the island are already involved but Sergeant Kelly hopes other licensed premises will come on board.  The Arran Banner

Supermarket beer pricing is killing pubs: CAMRA

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has accused supermarkets of contributing to the waning popularity of British beer and called on them to stop selling beer at below-cost. In a letter submitted to the Competition Commission, Iain Loe of Camra said his organisation is "increasingly concerned about the prevalence of below-cost selling of alcohol by the major supermarket chains".

The complaint echoes that of Scottish & Newcastle, the brewer of Strongbow and Fosters, which last summer called on supermarkets to stop selling lager as loss leaders - a problem that was contributing to binge drinking as well as falling profits at the major brewers. CAMRA, which champions real ale drinkers, argues that the policy has led to the slow but inexorable decline of beer-drinking in pubs as consumers buy cheaper alcohol from the supermarkets.

In 1995, 72% of all beer was sold through pubs and clubs, but this has fallen to 59% by 2005. The organisation reckons that 56 pubs are closing each month - a figure that is likely to escalate this year when the smoking ban comes into force across the country. Mr Loe praised Asda for stocking a selection of regional brews and said he hoped Tesco's policy of selling local milk could be extended to beer.  Daily Telegraph

Further information

On 9 May 2006, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) referred the supply of groceries by retailers in the UK to the Competition Commission (CC) for investigation.

‘Groceries’ is defined in the CC terms of reference as:

• including food (other than that sold for consumption in the store), pet food, drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), cleaning products, toiletries and household goods
• excluding petrol, clothing, DIY products, financial services, pharmaceuticals, newspapers magazines, greetings cards, CDs, DVDs, videos and audio tapes, toys, plants, flowers, perfumes, cosmetics, electrical appliances, kitchen hardware, gardening equipment, books, tobacco and tobacco products.

Competition Commission Groceries Market Inquiry homepage
Scottish & Newcastle submission
Royal College of Physicians submission
CAMRA submission
John Grogan's PRICE OF ALCOHOL IN SUPERMARKETS AND OFF-LICENCES: Early Day Motion (495)

EU funding: Call for proposals for public health programme

The Public Health Executive Agency (PHEA) is the European Commission’s Executive Agency for the Public Health Programme. It was set up to manage the Community Public Health Programme through managing projects funded under the Public Health Programme, organising Technical Meetings, and feeding back the results to the user community and into the policy making process at national and EU level.

PHEA has published a call for proposals for projects that support the Commission's Public Health Programme 2007 Work Plan.    Details here; the closing date is 21st May 2007.

The parts of the programme directly related to alcohol are in section 2.1.3.1. of the Work Plan: Supporting key Community strategies on addictive substances

Alcohol related activities will be linked to the overall strategic approach to reduce alcohol-related harm, as set out in the Commission communication on an EU strategy to support Member States in reducing alcohol-related harm. The projects proposals should focus on:

• development of a standardised methodology of cost-benefit analyses of alcohol policies to evaluate the economic impact of existing alcohol policies in the EU;
• development of standardised comparative surveys on heavy drinking, binge-drinking (episodic heavy drinking), drunkenness, context of drinking, alcohol dependence and unrecorded consumption;
• collection of best practices in work-place strategies to reduce the impact of harmful and hazardous alcohol consumption on the economy (e.g. reduce absenteeism, drinking during working hours, working with a hangover and unemployment);
• networking, evaluation and collection of best practises on well-resourced community mobilisation and intervention projects, involving different sectors and partners to create safer drinking environments;
• supporting development of best practice in advertising, self regulation and monitoring.

Tackling young people's drinking pt86

Fife: More than 130 litres of alcohol was confiscated from underage drinkers during an Easter weekend crackdown on youth disorder. At least 63 intoxicated youngsters were also picked up by the police and returned to their parents during the operation by Fife Constabulary. It was the second weekend of a high-level police operation aimed at curbing youth anti-social behaviour.

Operation Time2Act officers will be out on patrol again this weekend. Insp Alex Harkness, of Fife Constabulary's community safety, said: "It's disturbing that so many underagers were found drunk or in possession of alcohol by our Time2Act task force. "Alcohol and young people is such a volatile mixture. Under the influence of alcohol, they are more likely to be both the victims and the perpetrators of crime."

Insp Andy Edmonston Fife Constabulary Insp Andy Edmonston, of Fife Constabulary's crime reduction and divisional planning, said tip-offs from the public are proving an important tool in cracking down on youth disorder. He said: "In Glenrothes, for example, we had received intelligence that fights were planned for Friday night between rival gangs. "At about 7.40pm a number of youths were seen drinking at flats in the Auchmuty area. They ran off when police arrived.

"The area was checked and we found 15 litres of alcohol, a baseball bat and a martial arts weapon. "This is a worrying find and, unfortunately, is consistent with recent drink-fuelled violence involving local youths." Officers armed with hand-held cameras will be patrolling the streets this weekend.  BBC News

Alcohol in the news 13.4.07: Man U fans asked to curb drinking in Milan; Swindon dispersal order

• UEFA has asked Manchester United to warn travelling supporters to cut down on their drinking ahead of the Champions League semi-final trip to face AC Milan next month.  UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said "If everyone behaves in a proper way, we should have a smooth sailing but Manchester United has to brief its fans and tell them what is appropriate. There has been a problem with drink and it would be nice if the supporters were advised not to do it. I realise this is a difficult thing but people are putting themselves at risk because they stop behaving in a rational way. UEFA are still investigating what happened in Rome, so we have to be careful, but there is shared responsibility for most situations, even if there is not equal responsibility." The Scotsman

• Swindon: Police say a dispersal order covering the town centre has helped prevent hundreds of people getting into serious trouble. The order, which has been renewed for a further six months this week, gives police the power to tell groups of two or more people causing problems to go home. Anyone who ignores the order can be arrested. Town centre beat manager Andy Alexander says the order has been a massive boost to officers policing the area on weekends. Another dispersal order, which covers the bus station and is aimed at the homeless drunks who gather there, has also just been renewed for a further six months.

Cheri Wright, the council's antisocial behaviour coordinator, said: "The dispersal order in the town centre is a pivotal part of the way in which the night time economy is policed in the town centre as police can proactively tackle some of the groups congregating before problems ensue. "The order at the bus station targets some of the problems with street drinkers and this gives the police the ability to move them on and deal with them effectively."  Swindon Advertiser

tackling street drinking - alcoholpolicy.net and LDAN workshop 15th May

alcoholpolicy.net and LDAN alcohol strategy action planning workshops
workshop 2: tackling street drinking – DPPOs, wet centres and other likely stories Tuesday 15th May, 2 to 4.30pm, London E2

The workshop will explore current problems and solutions associated with street drinking, including sessions on:

• street drinking in London today: population profiles, policy context, implications for ASB and treatment
• evidence for what works
• overview of current solutions in London – has anyone cracked it?
• key players to engage
• action planning

Speakers will share experiences of DPPOs, dispersal orders, outreach, treatment, ASBOs, environmental schemes and other initiatives.  This workshop is the second in a series of six practical workshops to bring you up to speed with the latest stuff, and help you make progress on alcohol.

aim: to drive local action on alcohol through practical guidance target audience: local alcohol champions (we mean anyone who wants to get things moving on alcohol)

why attend: these workshops will change your (working) life.  Action on alcohol has been bogged down in talking endlessly about all too familiar problems, and waiting for funding.  There is important work we can be doing now, with existing resources.  Come and get started.

about us: alcoholpolicy.net is behind the website and podcast for the alcohol harm reduction field.  We are an informal network of consultants, researchers and practitioners, keen to share our learning and ideas. Our motto: nonus reinventare wheela.  LDAN is the London Drug and Alcohol Network – developing substance misuse policy and supporting the capital’s treatment sector

other info: the workshops are free.  Materials and audio from the workshops will also be freely available on www.alcoholpolicy.net

to book contact Jim Bishop  020 7704 0004

Alcohol misuse costs Wales £1bn a year

• Booze binges cost Wales £1bn a year, according to a report by health chiefs. The study by the Directors of Public Protection Wales, a body made up of public health chiefs on Wales’ 22 regional councils, says the harmful effects of over-drinking show no sign of abating as Wales has the highest rate of underage drinking among 11-15-year-olds in the EU.

It also blames drink for 1,000 premature deaths each year. The £1bn total is made up of:

• Lost hours in the workplace, £320m
• Drink related crime and disorder, £365m
• Healthcare costs, £85m
• Social costs of 1,100 premature deaths a year and dealing with family break-ups, £230m.

The report estimates the cost of a person being punched by a drunk and needing hospital treatment is £20,950.

The Directors of Public Protection Wales are now calling on licensees, the police, health authorities and local councils to work together change people's drinking behaviour. It wants more alcohol prohibition zones to stop people drinking in the street. The report also points out that the drinks industry supports 50,000 jobs in Wales and leads to £350m a year going to the Exchequer in excise duty.  Morning Advertiser

Download Addressing Alcohol Misuse Issues by the Directors of Public Protection Wales (2006)