Alcohol home delivery services: a liberalisation too far?

Former (retired) lead on drug prevention and education for Cheshire Constabulary, Allan Brown, is concerned about the proliferation of alcohol home delivery services - services that sell alcohol over the phone or online and deliver it direct to the customer.  In this article for Alcohol Policy UK he argues that such services are a step too far on the path of licensing reform.

Last summer John Woodhouse, a contributor to a Staffordshire newspaper, wrote in relation to the opening of a 24-hour fast food venue:

"Personally, I'm not one for this inexorable move towards a 24-hour society. Essentially, the world is a very simple place. Half the time it's light, the other half it's dark. The light bit is when you move around. The dark bit is when you have a rest."

Now that might be an overly simplistic view, and there are probably going to be as many who wholeheartedly crave a 24-hour society as there are those who fear and loathe it, but whichever camp you occupy there is no denying that the world in the 21st Century is a high-octane a place. The Archbishop of Canterbury spoke last year of his concerns that the review ordered into 24-hour drinking by Prime Minister Gordon Brown would conclude that the legislation has been largely a success. He said:

"There is a whole culture of alcohol abuse which this country has failed to  tackle and the 24-hour thing is just the tip of the iceberg.  It is not that I am singling it out as the worst bit of the field, it is just that it is one of the more obviously presenting factors."

However the point of my writing is not to debate the whys and wherefores of government policy or even bemoan the impact of our 24 hour party culture, but merely to engender a discussion around one element of our drinking society, the proliferation of alcohol home delivery services.

Back in 2006, Dr Sheila Shribman, National Clinical Director for Children, Young People and Maternity Services raised concerns about the possible abuse of irresponsible alcohol home delivery services and it seemed that the Department of Health were preparing to launch a campaign. Yet the number and variety of such services increases daily and whilst some licensing authorities have blocked individuals plans, most reluctantly agree to licensing the activity, albeit on extensive conditions.

There are obviously many types of service providers, from major supermarkets, to dedicated off site retailers, internet companies, to Taxi firms who sell alcohol out of the boot of a car; whatever retailer or the mode of delivery, they all present the same sort of problems for regulation, enforcement and monitoring. They all generate public health concerns because they make alcohol more available and in some cases provide immediate round the clock access.

This is not solely a problem of the 21st century living; I recall from my youth the sight of the Birmingham brewer Davenports, delivering “beer at home” across the West Midlands, although in those halcyon days it seemed to me that such excess was the sole preserve of the well to do and my supposed social betters. Off Licences were sparsely scattered throughout predominately urban areas, relatively few in number, and the main sources of alcohol were public houses.

Today the availability of alcohol is beyond comparison to previous generations. From corner store to supermarket, pub, off licence and petrol station, wherever you are in this country alcohol is within the reach of all.  Yet it is against this background that home delivery services have proliferated. On the introduction of the Licensing Act 2003 focus shifted to activity at a specific premises and the operator of those premises, there were cases where some retailers established delivery services believing that they didn’t require a license at all.

In most cases such practice has been corrected, but the hangover from such lack of definition is evident in the wider ranging licensing responses across the country. In some areas licence applications are rejected, in others granted without concern, and in yet more only granted under a significant number of conditions. Surely the time is right for consistency in Licensing and is it too much to expect government to provided standard conditions for such services? 

At the outset of the expansion this market was greeted with suspicion and concern, but many of those concerns do not seem to have arisen. Much publicity was given to the prospect that services would increase underage drinking, and in some area of the country that has resulted in prosecutions. But there doesn’t appear to be an evidence base that links the availability of such services to the increase in under age drinking, except perhaps the study (Fletcher et al, quoted here) which surveyed young people and retailers in 15 small and midsize communities in Minnesota and Wisconsin and showed that 10% of 12th graders (16 to 18 yrs of age) reported purchasing alcohol delivered by a retailer to a home or individual in the past year.

Perhaps the absence of a consistent Licensing approach is only to be expected given the lack of reliable evidence to justify opposition. One would have thought that the immediacy of such services might be reflected in increased public disorder, domestic violence or even lead to a greater number of falls in the elderly, but there are seemingly few negative outcomes that can be directly attributable to home delivery services themselves. There have of course been some successful prosecutions of irresponsible retailers but maybe the lack of an evidence base to ban such services is a reflection of the complexity of the delivery model where sale occurs at a multiplicity of private venues.

I wonder whether the real question is not, do such services increase public disorder and public health problems, but are they needed in a world where many other sources of alcohol abound, or are home delivery services even socially desirable?  Can society achieve the level of control it needs to deliver acceptable public health outcomes if the law of the market is allowed to persist in this regard?

Comments

[Drinks in a Click]

Instead of blaming alcohol delivery services, bars or clubs blame the supermarkets that sell alcohol cheaper than milk or water.

all the alcohol delivery business are fully regulated and comply with strict challenge 25 policies and it's an offence to sell alcohol to somebosy who appears intoxicated!
Drink delivery business is there for people's convenience and prevents customers from drink driving

[Booze Up]

Similar to Ed, I too am involved within the alcohol delivery sector. Whilst Ed may be the market leader in Manchester, Booze Up (http://www.booze-up.com) is London's Premier Alcohol Delivery Service.

As a company that was established back in 2008, I must say I completely agree with Ed - it is very simple - alcoholics simply cannot afford our services. Their needs are daily and quite frankly our delivery charge alone would buy them a four pack of beer down the local off license, and surely an alcoholic is going to take this into consideration prior to ordering!

Both Booze Manchester and Booze Up follow strict licensing guidelines. We are not fly by night cowboys! If you appear drunk or we feel you have already consumed enough alcohol, we will not continue to serve you!

We take alcoholism seriously, so seriously in fact we have a dedicated 'drinkaware' page full of useful information to get help or advice! http://www.booze-up.com/drinkaware.php

Alcohol is there to be enjoyed, not abused, however, we also need to remember that alcoholism is an illness and is not to be taken lightly.

[Amy]

I don't think alcohol delivery companies are a cause for concern. There are already 24 hour off licences dotted about (you just have to look at http://www.24houralcohol.co.uk/ to see how many there are in London) so people can already buy alcohol at night if they wish. The alcohol delivery companies are generally pretty expensive compared to off licences so I don't think people with drinking problems use them as it would cost too much. I don't drink very often but I've used alcohol delivery companies a few times (as I'm sometimes awake at night) and they are handy. I'm sure they help to stop people drink driving too.

[Drinks Driver]

We have 24-hour alcohol delivery in London, and it is probably better than the other options - such as wandering the a bad area with an office licence willing to serve at such an hour. You see it is mainly upper class areas where there are no open off licences, hence the type of people calling are indeed ABC1 category.

But I do take the point of the earlier commenter that people need to drink in moderation, but that has little to do with our service.

Alcohol Delivery London http://www.drinksdriver.com

CFO, Charles Lane

[adam]

The council run test purchasers regularly, if a compay like ours was selling to underage people they would be caught, i can understand that there may be a council somwere that wouldnt think to monitor such a service, but surley then the council is to blame?

monitoring our service is just as sinple as monitoring shops, if not easier, with shops all that is done is test purchases and refusal book plus alot of staff training. with our area off business we have to do all of the above plus more, we have an invoice for every order signed by the individual to abide by our T&C's of not passing to underage people, on that invoice is also all details taken with the order such as date of birth, address, name, contact number, the time of sale and what was sold. how many shops can the police go to if there was a problem and get all that information? they dont have a record off all that info, if alcohol got passed to an underage kid in a certain area at a certain time or the police knew what alcohol it was then we can provide in-depth detail as to who passed the alcohol to them...

Just to clarify your first question... we regard responsible drinkers as normal members of the public that are either having a meal and would like some wine or champagne delivered, people that are at home and have a few friends around but didnt make it to the shop before they closed to get some beer, and people that have been out in town and want to have a few more drinks, just because they have already been out does not make them irresponsible drinkers, in fact surley if they have already been out and are not drunk that makes them rather responsible?

Manchester Alcohol Delivery: http://www.boozemanchester.co.uk

Alcohol Delivery Company Directory For The UK: http://www.boozenation.co.uk