Alcohol Policy UK

Report examines transferable lessons for alcohol policy

Joseph Rowntree Foundation have published a report that examines case studies of non-alcohol related issues and considers the learnings and parallels for UK alcohol policy. The report, 'Changing attitudes, knowledge and behaviour: A review of successful initiatives', examines 7 key international case studies which offered potential learning for alcohol approaches:

1. Consistency in campaigning: Switzerland’s STOP AIDS campaign
2. Awareness raising, advocacy and policy formulation: Smokefree Scotland
3. Making travel greener: the InMotion campaign
4. The Florida ‘Truth’ tobacco counter marketing campaign
5. The Australian responsibility in gambling campaign
6. New approaches to speeding: Foolsspeed and ‘Pinkie’
7. Positive role models: the Trevor Project (gay and lesbian mental health)

The case study topics were chosen for their similarities with alcohol misuse as widely practised but harmful behaviours. The cases were identied as often addictive, socially condoned but where moderation or abstinence was seen as unappealing, difficult or socially embarrassing. The report found a number of key lessons that were transferable to alcohol harm reduction and policy including:

• Long term commitment is required to ensure a change in social norms
• Ownership of the problem needs to be mutually accepted - not only the problem drinker must play a role in changing alcohol ham in society
• (Re)Framing the problem and changing social norms is often important in engaging support and finding solutions. For example the case of framing smokefree legislation as a public health issue allowed it to overcome the counter-arguments of 'freedoms' and profits.
• Understanding the target(s) was imperative in looking at where behavior change needed to take place and the motivators for change. For example the 'Truth' tobacco campaign showed young people were not interested in health risks but were engaged by the idea of protest against the tobacco industry and it's manipulative practices.
• Planning is important in achieving defined and measurable objectives for change
• Positive offering - showing humour, empathy or positive messages can engage people's emotions as effectively as fear based messages.
• Multiple approaches are important as complex problems require multi-faceted responses in order to be effective.
• Competition was effective and necessary in some cases, tobacco initiatives faced active competition from the industry as public health and industry profit objectives are fundamentally opposed. Therefore voluntary self-regulation was not effective and strong statutory responses were required. (sound familiar?!)
• Research was important in developing and evaluating effective interventions

The report therefore presents some exciting ideas and further steer for alcohol policy direction. The importance of ongoing attention to strategic alcohol work and planned policy is highlighted through concluding:

"The cases support a lot of existing public health learning: complex problems need complex solutions; culture and norms take time to change; research is the foundation of effective action. They also generate some new ideas: that branding and relationship building also have traction in public health; that strategic planning is essential; that competitive analysis is a useful tool, and that positive appeals, humour and empathy can work as well as dire warnings."

Statistics on alcohol for England 2009 released

The NHS information centre has released the latest figures for alcohol related harm in the report Statistics on alcohol, England 2009.

The report aims to present a broad picture of health issues relating to alcohol in England and covers topics such as drinking habits and behaviours among adults and school children, drinking related ill health and mortality, affordability of alcohol and alcohol related costs.

The report follows the recent release of the JRF report on UK drinking trends.

Mandatory code proposals announced for further licensing regulations

The Home Office has opened consultation on the forthcoming mandatory licensing code of practice intended to address irresponsible retailing of alcohol and associated crime and disorder. The proposals set out a number of new requirements detailed in the main consultation document 'Safe. Sensible. Social. Selling alcohol responsibly'. The new code of practice has four 4 key areas:

• mandatory licensing conditions that will apply to licensed premises
• a requirement to display alcohol unit content and health related information
• discretionary local licensing conditions that can be applied to groups of two or more premises in any local area that have been clearly linked to alcohol-related nuisance and disorder
• statutory guidance to support the conditions and requirements, maximising the positive impact of the code, and good practice guidance.

The mandatory licensing conditions are expected to receive the most attention given that up to 8 compulsory requirements can be brought in under the proposals that will impact on how pubs and clubs and the off-trade sell alcohol. The proposals include a number of key conditions:

1. Banning irresponsible promotions such as 'all you can drink'
2. Banning irresponsible practices such as alcohol being directly dispensed into customers mouths
3. Ensuring smaller measures (but not glass sizes) are made available 
4. Ensuring the availability of free tap water
5. Ensuring online retailers have robust age-verifications systems
6. Ensuring point of sale information such as unit information and health guidelines are visible to all customers

The proposals for a new code of practice follow previous consultation last year on whether and how the government should take further action on retailers and industry. The government then quickly responded in announcing that further measures would be taken and published a consultation findings report. However when the announcement was made that a mandatory code was to be brought in, we highlighted dissatisfaction amongst some groups that the proposals would not directly address heavy discounting of alcohol by supermarkets. Arguments calling for action on the continued availability of cut-price alcohol from the off-trade were supported by findings that price and availability are directly linked to alcohol-related harm.

As a result, the debate over minimum pricing has continued, particularly following recommendations to the government to introduce minimum pricing by the Chief Medical Officer and other senior health professionals. However the Home Secretary and Prime Minister have both spoken out against minimum pricing, using the argument of not wanting 'to punish the sensible majority' although a recent presentation to the Commons Health Select Committee showed that "Moderate drinkers would only pay an extra £12 a year, whereas a harmful drinker, because they buy so many more units, would pay an extra £163 a year." (Guardian coverage here). 

The treasury has continued its promise of increasing duty on alcohol, last month announcing the most recent 2% increase.

Following announcement of the most recent proposals, further media attention and debate has opened up including:

• Criticism of 'confusing' mandatory code from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), see  ACS press release for details
• Responses to the new code from Mike Craik, Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Alcohol Concern Chief Executive, Don Shenker, included in this Home Office press release

New European masters in drug and alcohol studies

A European masters in drug and alcohol studies is being developed jointly by four universities: Middlesex University (England), Aarhus University (Denmark), Ljubljana University (Slovenia) and the University del Piemonte Orientale “A. Avogardo” (Italy). The development of the programme is supported by a grant from the Erasmus Lifelong Learning Programme. Once the masters is underway, students may come from any country and other universities will be encouraged to form links with the development group.

Recruitment to the masters will begin in the spring of 2010 and the first group of students will start in September 2010. If you are interested in finding out more, see the website www.emdas.eu or contact the programme co-ordinators: Professor Betsy Thom at Middlesex University [email protected] or Professor Anthony Goodman [email protected] .  See also details here

The introductory module will be piloted in April 2010 and approximately 5 or 6 people from the UK will be recruited to participate. This will take place over 4 ½ intensive study days in London and you would be mixing with a group of students and teachers from our partner universities. You will be able to take the assessment, if you wish, and gain 5 ECTs (European credits, equivalent to 10 Middlesex credits). Attendance will be free but you will have to cover travel, accommodation and living expenses. Please send expressions of interest to Professor Betsy Thom [email protected]

AERC Alcohol Academy to launch in June

The AERC Alcohol Academy will be officially launching next month with a conference and workshop event in London. The Academy will operate as a social enterprise set up to facilitate networking and skills development for alcohol coordinators, leads and commissioners. It therefore aims to allow those within the relatively new field of strategic alcohol harm reduction to share and develop the innovative practice required to make real impact at local and regional levels. However the Academy also aims to seize on the knowledge and experience of coordinators and look at how this may be used to influence learning, best practice and influence national policy.

Last year a scoping exercise was carried out which showed significant support for the objectives set out by the Academy and the Alcohol Education and Research Council (AERC) subsequently funded the Academy to run for 15 months. The Academy will deliver conference and workshop events across the country tailored to suit the needs and interests of local alcohol coordinators and leads. The scoping exercise identified a number of key issues that were consistently highlighted including commissioning skills, the need for best-practice sharing and networking and skills in the delivery and management of a complex and multi-thematic alcohol agenda.

If you are an alcohol strategy coordinator, strategic PCT lead or alcohol commissioner and are interested in attending the launch event on the 9th June, please email [email protected]. Places are very limited so quick contact is advised! See here for the agenda.

The AERC Alcohol Academy is also running an email network forum for alcohol coordinators and leads to allow discussion, networking and best practice and information sharing. To request membership to this group, please email [email protected].

UK drinking trends: JRF report

A new report on UK drinking trends over the last 20-30 years has been released by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. 'Drinking in the UK: An exploration of trends' examines a range of available national data and identified 5 key trends including:

• increase in drinking amongst women
• increase in drinking among middle- and older-age groups
• increase in drinking in Northern Ireland compared with the rest of the UK
• a possible recent decrease in drinking among 16 to 24-year-olds
• increase in alcohol consumption amongst very young adolescents

The report assesses the reasons behind the trends and considers that the significant increase in women's drinking reflects a decrease in the equalities gap between men and women. Increased drinking amongst older groups is suggested to be attributable to the improved financial circumstances and changed attitudes of the 'baby boomers' who have grown up with increasingly permissive societal attitudes. Increased drinking in Northern Ireland is suggested to be attributable to 'social and economic emancipation', including 1996 licensing laws and the socio-economic improvements associated with the developments of the peace process.

However caution is expressed by the authors when reading into the decrease in 16-24 year olds' drinking, as this group has higher overall levels of consumption and greater variance in data, therefore further study is recommended. The further upward trend identified amongst 11-13 year olds was likely to reflect the influence of their social environment especially family and friends. Increased affordability and advertising expenditure are also legitimate considerations.

Further information on trends and data:

• Continued rise in alcohol-related deaths
• Rise in alcohol sales
• Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) fact sheet on trend of UK affordability
• IAS UK alcohol data map
• Local Alcohol Profiles for England
• Alcohol Needs Assessment and Research Project (ANARP)
• Hospital admissions (NI 39) data and tools

Tories to review '24 hour licensing'

A Yorkshire Post interview with Consevative shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling reveals that the Tories are committed to reviewing the '24-hour licensing regime' and are particularly keen to cut down on the over-proliferation of late-night off-licences and pubs serving  under-aged children, for which there would be a three strikes and you're out policy [this is case already - LR].

"I don't want to go back to the point where every pub closed at 10.30pm, but I'm unpersuaded by the idea that having a large number of pubs open to 3am or 4am is leading to the creation of the continental-style cafe culture that Tony Blair used to talk about."

In February, the BBC reported Grayling as saying there was a "strong case" to end the 24-hour licensing changes.

Embrace Project: acting together on alcohol, children, families and domestic abuse

Alcohol Concern's National Lottery-funded domestic abuse and families project Embrace has published a newsletter with all the latest project developments, and a 'resource supplement' that lists key journal articles, websites, sources of leaflets and posters, and policy documents.  Well worth a look.

INEBRIA 2009 conference, 8-9 October

The 6th Annual Conference of INEBRIA 2009: Breaking New Ground
The BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle/ Gateshead UK on  8th-9th October 2009

The organisers of the 6th Annual Conference of INEBRIA 2009 (International Network on Brief Interventions for Alcohol Problems) announce this two day scientific conference that aims to address some outstanding issues in the field of screening and brief interventions (SBI) for alcohol use disorders. The conference is highly policy relevant and would be of interest to health professionals, public health practitioners, commissioners and researchers working in the field of alcohol use both nationally and internationally.

Three plenary speakers with international reputations in the field of SBI and have been confirmed:

• Dr Peter Anderson, Public Health Consultant
• Professor Eileen Kaner, Chair of Public Health Research, Newcastle University
• Professor Jonathan Shepherd, Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Cardiff University

The forth plenary space will be awarded to the best submitted abstract.

Full conference fees/ early registration by 31st July 2009 = £75 (late registration from 1st August 2009 = £125) Concessionary rates are available for full-time students and delegates from developing and transitional countries.

Individuals are invited to submit abstracts to present at the 6th Annual Conference of INEBRIA 2009. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 12th June 2009.  Call for abstracts here

Further details about the conference including how to register can be found at the conference website or download details here

AL-CODE Alcohol marking scheme

From PS Martin Alvis, Wilts Police, and Ian Whiteway, Anti-Social Behaviour Officer, Watford Community Housing Trust:

The Al-CODE marking scheme is an innovative and simple idea that, we believe, gives enhanced evidential value to an area of concern throughout the country, where the supply and use of alcohol is contributing to anti-social behaviour. The scheme could be aimed at shops that have been given warnings regarding the sale of alcohol, to individual shops that are targeted by the police or to those that have had staff prosecuted for the supply of alcohol in the past. It could also be used nationwide in all licensed premises.

The scheme would be aimed at the retailer not only as a way of providing evidence for the police, but also as a way of reducing the problem of alcohol related crime in the area, ensuring there is no repeat sale of underage alcohol and as an obligation of the shop under the Crime and Disorder Act.

More details from www.alcoholmarking.co.uk.