Home Office funds extra enforcement for "top 50" alcohol blackspots

Eleven London boroughs will each receive £30,000 to tackle specific local troublespots of alcohol-related crime and disorder. Hackney, Islington, Westminster, Tower Hamlets, Barking and Dagenham, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth, Waltham Forest, Ealing, Newham and Southwark will be given a share of a new national Home Office £1.5 million fund.

This money is available to the 50 priority areas which have the highest levels of alcohol-related crime and disorder and public concern about drunk and rowdy behaviour. This money will be used to tackle underage sales, confiscate alcohol from under 18s and to carry out tougher alcohol enforcement work.

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said

This money provides a timely boost to law enforcement as we approach the festive period.  In many areas police and local authorities are effectively using the range of tools and powers we have provided to tackle alcohol related crime and disorder. 

We have backed that with £3 million in every part of England and Wales and an additional £1.5 million for our priority areas. This means a third of a million pounds in 11 London boroughs. I fully expect this will boost the drive against alcohol-related crime and disorder, and help reduce alcohol related problems in London.

In addition to the £1.5 million for the 50 priority areas, a further £3 million has already been awarded to 190 crime and disorder reduction partnerships across England and Wales to enforce the law against alcohol-related crime and disorder. This £3 million fund will be spent on supporting local, multi-agency campaigns to tackle alcohol related crime and disorder. Home Office

The top 50 list (see top 10 below) appears to have been derived using perceptions of alcohol-related anti-social behaviour and rates of "less serious wounding" crimes as a proxy for alcohol-related violence.  Blackpool tops the list, with Newham in second spot, yet these are two very different places, with contrasting night time economies (Newham's is minimal) and drinking cultures.  According to the indespensible North West Public Health Observatory's Local Alcohol Profiles for England, Newham has the 17th lowest synthetic estimate of binge drinking in England whilst Blackpool has the 26th highest. 

Can we rely on proxy measures to determine priority areas for enforcement?  No; what we need is better data on alcohol-related crime.  Better flagging of police records to denote the involvement of alcohol in incidents would be a start.

1. Blackpool
2. Newham
3. North East Lincolnshire
4. Southampton
5. Thanet
6. Lincoln
7. Burnley
8. Wakefield
9. Weymouth & Portland
10. Mansfield