Alcohol Policy UK

Alcohol jobs: SIPS

• Research Assistants for the Alcohol Screening & Brief Intervention Pilots: DH Trailblazer Research Programme (SIPS), St Geroge's Hospital Medical School, London

Closing date: 24th April
Details here

• Trials Co-ordinator for the Alcohol Screening & Brief Intervention Pilots: DH Trailblazer Research Programme (SIPS), St Geroge's Hospital Medical School, London

Closing date: 24th April
Details here

• Senior Research Associate, Newcastle University

Closing date: 24th April
Details here

• Research Associates, Newcastle University

Closing date: 24th April
Details here

More about SIPS here

New funding for Tackling Underage Sales of Alcohol Campaign (TUSAC)

In October 2006, the Police Standards Unit coordinated an intelligence led Tackling Underage Sales of Alcohol Campaign (TUSAC) across 27 BCUs in 16 Forces. The aim was to further target the illegal sale of alcohol to young people and to increase the use of the review process to maximise the impact of licensing legislation in controlling the irresponsible retailing of alcohol.

As a result, a significant number of premises had their licences suspended for periods of up to 3 months and additional conditions being imposed upon their licence. Building upon the success of this campaign, the Police Standards Unit with support from ACPO and LACORS is coordinating and funding a national TUSAC in 2007.  This campaign will utilise new legislation regarding persistent sales to enable local partnerships to make use of all appropriate legislation in dealing with problem licensed premises.  Amendments to the Violent Crime Reduction Act mean that police now able to impose a suspension and a £10,000 fine upon licensed premises caught selling alcohol to under-18s three times in a three-month period.

All BCUs in partnership with their local Trading Standards have been invited to participate in this national TUSAC commencing on 4th May 2007 and concluding on 15th July 2007, and to bid for funding up to the sum of £5000 for each participating BCU to assist with the test purchase operations.  Consideration of prosecution of premises licence holders for persistently selling alcohol to children will be the most significant element of this campaign.  Bids had to be submitted by 30th March.

Further information on the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006:

• Institute of Alcohol Studies
• Wine and Spirit Trade Assocation
• Home Office

Alcohol industry news: UK drinks companies worst for complying with advertising standards; NUT calls for ban on sports sponsorship; smoking ban hits beer sales in Scotland

• Drinks companies in the UK are the worst in western Europe at complying with advertising standards aimed at ensuring responsible consumption, according to an industry-commissioned survey seen by the Financial Times. The findings will fuel the debate about binge drinking in the country. The annual survey of the European Forum for Responsible Drinking (EFRD), which groups seven mostly spirits companies, showed that 96 per cent of advertisements in the 13 European Union countries assessed met standards laid down by national regulators or the industry, on a par with last year. Yet in the UK, which accounted for a third of the advertisements assessed, 7.4 per cent failed stricter standards introduced last year, a sharp increase from 1.4 per cent in 2005.  FT.com

• Drinks companies should be banned from sponsoring professional sport because too many children are slipping into alcoholism, a teachers' union has warned. The 'massive assault of the drinks industry' on sport through advertising and sponsorship must end, National Union of Teachers' general secretary Steve Sinnott demanded yesterday. He warned beer firms which sponsor football are exposing impressionable children to highly damaging messages. Speaking at the NUT's annual conference, Mr Sinnott said: 'This exposure to alcohol is damaging young people's lives and their futures.We are failing our youngsters. 'The sponsorship of sport by the drinks industry must end in advance of the Olympics in 2012.'  Metro.co.uk
  

• Beer sales in Scottish pubs are falling as customers stay away because of the smoking ban, industry figures showed yesterday. The amount of beer sold in pubs last year fell by 6 per cent in Scotland, compared with 4 per cent across the United Kingdom, according to data from the market research analyst AC Nielsen. The discrepancy highlights the added impact of the smoking ban north of the Border, and will raise concerns in Wales, where a ban took effect this week, and in England, where one will be imposed on 1 July. And although there was an increase in wine sales, pub industry leaders said the figures reflected a downturn across the industry which was facing pressure from cheap drink deals in supermarkets. Paul Waterson, chief executive of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: "Our own results show turnover figures among our membership are down by 11 per cent. Our figures and yesterday's results confirm that the smoking ban is badly hurting our business, no matter what the politicians say."   The Scotsman

Tackling alcohol in the NTE: alcohol-related violence reduced in Brighton, Norwich and Plymouth

• The team behind a drive to cut city centre binge drinking has won praise from a police chief. Brighton and Hove was the first place in Sussex to have its own police alcohol licensing unit which launched the city's Best Bar None awards last year to drive up standards in 350 pubs and clubs. The awards, jointly sponsored by The Argus, have helped reduce violence in the city centre.The scheme was introduced in the wake of licensing laws being relaxed in 2005. Figures released in February showed that since then serious public place violent crime has dropped by 8.4 per cent. There have been 183 fewer victims of serious assault in Brighton and Hove since the Licensing Act came into effect. The licensing and Best Bar None teams are being recognised for their work as part of the initiative. The Argus

• Norfolk: Police chiefs today announced a drop in crime for the fourth year in a row.  Violent crime has dropped by 6.6pc, thefts of motor vehicles by 6.3pc and incidents of criminal damage down by 1.6pc.  The figures, released by Norfolk Constabulary, showed there were nearly 2,000 fewer offences recorded from last April to the end of last month, compared with the same period in 2005/6.  Chief Insp Stuart Offord, head of the inspection and review department at Norfolk police, said he was delighted that for the fourth year running, crime had decreased and that the reductions had come in the areas where people felt particularly vulnerable, such as sexual offences, violent crime and burglary. “The drop in violent crime has focused on violence associated with the night-time economy in Norwich and our major towns, which has been successful,” he said.  Norwich Evening News

• Violent crime has plummeted in Plymouth's clubland, and police say it's because they have ploughed money and manpower into tackling the problems. Figures released at the April meeting of the trade security forum Clubwatch reveal that in the past year violent crime has dropped by six per cent in the South Sector, which includes Union Street, the city centre, Barbican and North Hill. There has also been an overall decline of four per cent in cases of wounding since April 2006 - but in the past six months the reduction has been 12 per cent.

Chief Inspector Matthews put the change in Plymouth's clubland down to a huge increase in police resources since October 2006, which had also seen the sector achieve the best detection rate in the whole of Devon and Cornwall Constabulary. An additional £15,000 was pumped into policing clubland at Christmas and £70,000 is guaranteed to be spent on patrolling 'the strip' and other nightspots during this financial year. The cash has come as a reward from the Government for Plymouth police hitting their targets for reducing car crime.

The number of officers working on Operation Talon, specifically policing the night-time economy, has increased, with about 30 uniformed bobbies available on Friday and Saturday nights - almost double the numbers which were sometimes on call before. "Violence in the night-time economy is a huge priority," said Ch Insp Matthews, saying 'early intervention' was the key to stopping violence. "We have more staff on the streets and they are there earlier."

Operation Talon, which covers Friday and Saturdays from 8pm to 5am, is also being expanded to cover Thursday and Sunday nights at bank holidays. Club boss Peter Jones stressed that 'partnership working' through trade-run organisations such as Clubwatch and City Safe had also had an impact on tackling crime. Ch Insp Matthews agreed, praised the "valuable contribution" made by Clubwatch members and said: "This forum is very positive; they want to work with us."  thisisPlymouth.co.uk

Tackling young people's drinking pt85

• LAGER, cider, brandy and other booze has been confiscated from children as young as 13 in Bridlington. Police have said that in some cases it is parents who are buying the alcohol for their teenagers to drink. Elsewhere older teenagers are getting the booze for their younger friends, but they have been warned they could be given on-the-spot fines of up to £80.

PCSO Richard Bastiman said: "This alcohol has been seized from teenagers who we have found drinking in public, or adults who have been supplying alcohol to children. "We are getting great support and intelligence from off licences and the community wardens and because of CCTV evidence and people wishing to give statements, we are able to issue penalty notices for buying and supplying alcohol.

"With the lighter nights here now, we are going to be very pro-active on tackling this matter in the next couple of months." Under 16s who are spotted drinking alcohol by the PCSOs are instantly taken home to their parents. Those who are 16 or 17 and are found drinking in public or supplying alcohol, or adults who are supplying booze, face fines of up to £80.  Bridlington Today

• Dispersing groups of up to 30 youths drinking on the streets of Bridgnorth is to become a top priority for police. People living in the town have called on officers to stamp out the problem, which becomes worse during the summer months. Last month it emerged parents were purchasing alcohol on behalf of their children and leaving them to drink it in the streets.

At last week’s Police and Communities Together (Pact) meeting, residents voted under-age drinkers as one of the major issues affecting Bridgnorth. Sergeant Bob Matthews said: “Anti-social behaviour and youth alcohol, predominately in the High Street from early Thursday evenings and through the weekend, is a concern.

“It is something we are going to be looking at for quite a while and with the weather getting nicer people stay out longer.We have had reports that up to 30 youths at one time congregate outside of Tesco up until about 9.30pm. It is something that needs sorting out. “We hope to speak to the staff to see if they have had any problems and also some of the kids to find out what they are doing.” Shropshirestar.com

• North East: Pubs are facing closure in the biggest crackdown on underage drinking the region has ever seen. The Home Office campaign will start on May 4 and will involve police and licensing authorities enforcing the law banning the sale of alcohol to under 18s. The Tackling Underage Sales of Alcohol campaign will last ten weeks and will target known troublespots. Last month, workers in three North West Durham pubs were issued with £80 fines for serving two 16-year-old girls in a police operation. It is believed to be the first time such fines have been imposed in the North East. Plain clothes officers visited the Ram's Head, in Langley Park, the King's Head, in Lanchester, and the Jolly Drover's, in Leadgate.  Sunday Sun

• WELL worth while - that's how licensees have hailed a new course aimed at giving retailers who supply alcohol a better understanding of their responsibilities.  Employees are given practical tips about how to deal with alcohol related crime and disorder. The laws concerning under age drinking and serving anyone who appears to be drunk are spelt out in great detail. "Most retailers take their responsibilities very seriously and they are aware of the social problems that can arise through under age drinking," said Eric McKay, owner of the Londis store in Hough Green, Widnes.

"The biggest problem appears to be adults buying alcohol for them. It is the one area that I feel the law should be more stringently enforced." The one day course, run by Halton Council and Halton & St Helens PCT, leads to a British Institute of Inn Keeping Awarding Body level 1 award in responsible alcohol retailing. thisisCheshire.co.uk

• CONTROVERSIAL PLANS to introduce alcohol tolerance zones for under-age drinkers in Scotland will not be rolled out in Tayside and Fife in the near future. A pilot scheme announced by North Lanarkshire Council aims to create supervised alcohol shelters in public parks to cut down on loud and aggressive youths hanging around the streets. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and Alcohol Focus Scotland said they will monitor the scheme for possible introduction in other areas. A COSLA spokeswoman said other local authorities would learn from the experience and decide whether it was appropriate for them.

She added, “Local authorities are renowned for developing innovative and creative solutions to problems, such as alcohol abuse, and to addressing the wider issues of anti-social behaviour and community safety.” Dundee City Council insisted that, although they have been made aware of the scheme, they “do not think it is necessary.” A similar response was received from local authorities in Angus, Perth and Kinross and Fife. The news will come as a relief to alcohol awareness groups and police who say the move fails to tackle the core problem.  The Courier