Alcohol Policy UK

Alcohol and food: making the public health connections

'Alcohol and food: making the public health connections' (pdf), a literature review into the links surrounding alcohol and food, has been published by the the Liverpool John Moore's University.

The report makes interesting reading through exploring the position of alcohol within lifestyle contexts centred around food consumption. The important links between calorie intake, the way food and alcohol are used or affect each other, and a range of issues and popular myths are explored. Chapters include:

• Alcohol as a food
• Combined consumption - the positive health effects?
• Harms related to both food and alcohol
• Interventions for promoting healthy food and alcohol consumption
• Discussion

The report states:

"UK policy must address the links between alcohol and food in order to maximise the effectiveness of public health responses and enable people to make better informed choices about eating and drinking. We urgently need to move away from seeing alcohol as a means to achieve inebriation to regarding it as an accompaniment to food with both being consumed in moderation."

Government response to mandatory code consultation

The government's response to the consultation on the new mandatory licensing code has been published. The five conditions of the code were recently announced, including banning 'irresponsible promotions' in pubs and bars and premises being required to offer free tap water and small measures.

Although the code does not place restrictions on off-sales promotions, the consultation prompted the move to allow licensing authorities to be able call for license reviews as 'interested parties', with guidance due shortly.

The response to the consultation findings are provided in:

• Safe. Sensible. Social. Selling alcohol responsibly: government response to the consultation on the code of practice for alcohol retailers (PDF)

  This report sets out the key themes from analysis of the consultation findings and our response to them. It also sets out the next steps in the our work on the mandatory code for alcohol retailers.

• Selling alcohol responsibly: a consultation on the new code of practice for alcohol retailers - overview report (PDF)

  Highlights from the findings of a multi-strand consultation on the issue of a code of practice for alcohol retailers.

• Results from the Ipsos MORI report on selling alcohol responsibly (PDF)

  This Ipsos MORI report accompanies the Home Office response to the consultation on the code of practice for alcohol retailers.

The government's response is likely to be of interest to licensed premises, industry bodies and statutory bodies representing a range of views on the new code. Its announcement sparked criticism from the on-trade who highlighted they were being unfairly targeted as supermarkets were left untouched.

The consultation response says:

"A range of concerns were raised regarding the proposed local discretionary conditions. To address these concerns, the Home Secretary tabled a number of amendments to the Policing and Crime Bill to remove the power for licensing authorities to impose local conditions with groups of premises, instead, giving members of licensing authorities the power to act as ‘interested parties’ under the Licensing Act, as suggested by a number of key stakeholders."

The conditions will come into force in April and October 2010 pending parliamentary approval.

Upcoming events: Academy North East workshops; National Pubwatch and others

AERC Alcohol Academy regional workshops: the North East

For alcohol leads in the North East region:

Next month the Alcohol Academy will be running four half-day workshops in the North East; on the 10th of february two focused workshops will explore alcohol and older people (AM) and cocaethylene (PM) issues, looking at how alcohol strategy can better respond.

Please note these workshops are targeted for NE strategic alcohol leads and those with a relevant interest or expertise in the topics  - for further information, enquiries and registration please see the Balance events page.

A wider event on the 23rd of February will cover alcohol and Domestic Violence (AM) and alcohol and Children and Young People (PM). See the Balance events page for further details.

Check the Alcohol Academy events page for future upcoming workshops and events in other regions, or speak to your Regional Alcohol Office. Presentations are available from the York & Humber and London launch events.

Alcohol Learning Centre events calender

Remember the Alcohol Learning Centre has an events page for forthcoming health focused events.

National Pubwatch Conference for 2010

The 2010 National Pubwatch Conference: 'Work Place Violence' will be held on 9th February in Northamptonshire. It will cover topics such as 'Reducing the Risk to Your Business', 'Drink Banning Orders' and 'Work Place Violence'. Attendance costs £30 for Pubwatch Licensee fee payers, statutory and other agencies will cost £80.

Other events

Last year we also highlighted two interesting non-profit events which are now shortly approaching: on the 10th February the Royal Geographic Society will be exploring 'who drinks where and why?' and on the 30th of March the University of Nottingham are exploring 'Student Alcohol (Mis)Use'

Alcohol Concern are organising the 'Developing Choice in Peer Support - The SMART Recovery Model' - Delegate fee - £50 + VAT, but 1 service can accompany free. 

The Alcohol Academy have only a few places left reserved for alcohol leads or commissioners on the 'IBA: commissioning and delivery issues' symposium in London on the 8th February. An online survey examining the issues in delivering brief interventions is open to practitioners and commissioners until the 5th February.

The Home Office will be shortly announcing a number of events to promote recent learning and best practise in relation to reducing crime and disorder in the Night Time Economy. Watch this space for details.

4th national alcohol conference: presentations available

In November last year, the Home Office, Department of Health and Department of Children, Schools and Families in partnership with colleagues in the North West hosted the 4th National Alcohol Conference, “Safe Sensible Social: Supporting Delivery” in Liverpool.

Presentations included:

Best Practice and Case Law Update: Download

Liz Meek, Government Office for the North West : Download

Newquay night-time economy approach : Download

The Role Of Schools (Part 2), Anne Trout, PHSE Consultant : Download

Tackling Alcohol Related Youth Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (Day 1) : Download

Tackling Alcohol Related Youth Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (Day 2) : Download

Think Family, Shaun Hilditch, DCSF : Download

Dr Arif Rajpura, NHS Blackpool : Download

Mandatory licensing code announced as future alcohol policy lines emerge

The Home Secretary has announced five conditions for the new mandatory licensing code, seemingly ending speculation of it being scrapped - though the code still requires parliamentary approval.

As of the 6th April 2010, the first 3 proposed conditions are planned to come into effect:

• banning irresponsible promotions, such as ‘all you can drink for £10’ or ‘women drink free’ deals, that encourage people to drink quickly or irresponsibly
• banning ‘dentist’s chairs’ where drink is poured directly into the mouths of customers, making it impossible for them to control the amount they are drinking
• ensuring free tap water is available for customers, allowing people to space out their drinks

Premises will have further time to prepare for the remaining 2 conditions due to come in on the 1st October 2010:

• ensuring all those who sell alcohol have an age-verification policy in place, requiring them to check the ID of anyone who looks under-18
• ensuring small measures of beers, wine and spirits are made available to customers

The code has seen alcohol hitting the headlines again following the recent attention over the main political party's alcohol policies. In announcing the code, the Labour government appear to have reinforced their stance they are not currently looking to introduce minimum pricing following recent supportive comments from the health secretary.

A Guardian report commented that the government did not wish to appear to be penalising 'responsible drinkers' in an election year, but that a 'clear political auction is now developing over cheap booze'. Today the Conservatives announced the crime section of their election manifesto, promising to 'ban off-licences and supermarkets from selling alcohol below cost price' and raise tax on 'super-strength beers, ciders and alcopops'. The Tory's alcohol policy recently came under fire for proposing to scrap the current unit system.

But the mandatory code today also generated criticism, particularly from the on-trade who highlighted they were being unfairly targeted whilst supermarkets were left untouched. A 2008 consultation on the code had revealed supermarket 'loss-leading' as one of the main areas for concern. The BBPA have labelled the code 'lop-sided and unbalanced', reporting that nearly 70% of all alcohol is sold in supermarkets while the pub trade continues to suffer. Other industry representatives have described the maximum penalty of £20,000 for breach of the code as 'ludicrous'. However health experts welcomed the code, but still called for minimum pricing measures.

See here for a BBC video report and here for the Telegraph story.

London Drink Debate: findings and public survey opens

The London Drink Debate has opened an online survey for Londoners to give their views on the role of alcohol in their community. The survey will form part of the London Drink Debate, further details available at www.londondrinkdebate.co.uk. A report on the findings from the recent consultation events is also available.

The London Drink Debate aims to understand London’s attitude to alcohol, looking at how much people consume and how they perceive alcohol related health and social issues.

A press release announced that whilst alcohol-related harm in London was lower than some other regions in England, the rate of alcohol related hospital admissions in London has almost doubled in the past six years. It is estimated that up to 40% of A&E presentations are alcohol related and an estimated 2 million Londoners drink hazardously or harmfully, alcohol also playing a role in 45% of violent crime.

Further infromation can be requested from [email protected]

Voting open for HubCAPP best alcohol projects awards

Voting for the HubCAPP Awards has now opened. The awards aim to recognise the many exceptional people and exceptional organisations working to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm in England. Two awards are available: ‘HubCAPP Project of the Year’ and ‘HubCAPP Most Useful Project of the Year’.

Vote for one project as ‘HubCAPP Project of the Year’

For this award you can only vote for one project from the six projects that have been shortlisted by the Alcohol Improvement Programme Board. Details are available here.

'HubCAPP Most Useful Project of the Year'

Have you found the information from projects useful? Have you contacted someone from reading their information, or have you used some of their ideas in your own work? If so you can vote for those projects to be ‘HubCAPP Most Useful Project of the Year’.

Read the individual projects and follow the vote button to choose your most useful projects. You can vote for up to three projects that you have found useful.

More information on the HubCAPP awards is available here.

Voting will be open until 26 February 2010.

Campaign encourages parents to talk about alcohol

A campaign 'Why let drink decide?' has been launched to encourage parents to talk to their children about alcohol. A website resource www.whyletdrinkdecide.direct.gov.uk provides parents with information, links and tips on how to approach the subject. The campaign also includes a TV ad and a number of short online clips by known comedians, including Bill Bailey (below, on joining the campaign).

Recently the Chief Medical Officer released guidance on the consumption of alcohol by children and young people.

For more information on the campaign and further links see this DCSF press release.

Government moving towards minimum pricing? Alcohol policy set to figure highly in election build up

The Health Secretary Andy Burnham has this week indicated support for minimum pricing from the government, according to a report from the Telegraph. Burnham commented in an interview:

"We need to balance the rights of people who drink responsibly with those who buy ludicrously cheap booze and go out and harm themselves and others.

“The NHS Confederation and Royal College of Physicians expressed their views very clearly over Christmas – I can’t sit here and read reports like that and say it is all fine.

“The mood has changed and there is rising public concern – we need to respond to that and move on the debate…There is no shortage of research that shows the link with price and people drinking harmful levels of alcohol – there is no debate about that.”

The apparent shift in policy follows the recent NHS Confederation report and Health Select Committee's alcohol report (chapters here), though the Business Minister Lord Mandelson is said to be against the move. Gordon Brown had initially opposed calls for minimum pricing from the Chief Medical Officer last year, although Labour had insisted they had not ruled it out and would consider further evidence.

Minimum pricing has however been unpopular with the industry and in the public domain, though the Health Select Committee reported 'There is a myth widely propagated by parts of the drinks industry and politicians that a rise in prices would unfairly affect the majority of moderate drinkers.'

The Scottish National Party (SNP), who are currently trying to implement a minimum price, have produced an interesting interactive tool to show how a 40p minimum price would affect different drinks.

The Tories propose to ban below-cost sales and raise tax on certain drinks in addition to the controversial proposals to scrap units, also announced this week in a policy green paper .

Following the high profile of the release of the Health Select Committee's report last week, here are some of the interesting news and media responses we've come across.

Comment and investigative reports

• Mark Easton (BBC home editor) 'The myths of boozed up Britain'
• 'Save the NHS from alcohol abuse', Guardian comment
  
• The Economist 'Plastered for a pound'

Industry responses

• 'Drinks producers slam minimum price proposals'
• 'BBPA: minimum price would be ineffective'
• The Drinkware trust's response
• 'ALMR: alcohol report is welcome boost for pubs'

The nationals

• BBC 'MPs call for clampdown on alcohol misuse'
• Daily Mail 'Binge drinkers prop up alcohol industry: Sales 'would fall by 40%' if we all drank responsibly 
• The Mirror 'Alcohol policies have failed - MPs'
• The Telegraph 'Rise prices alcohol prices to save lives, MPs argue'
• The Guardian 'Report condemns government response to alcoholism and binge drinking'

Tories propose to scrap units and stop 'below-cost selling'; New licensing powers to come in

Tories propose to replace units and stop loss leading

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has announced that the Conservatives will replace the current units system for measuring alcohol consumption. The Conservative's new green paper on public health says:

"We will change labelling in order to take account of social norms and to abolish systems of labelling that do not help consumers understand the amount of alcohol they drink. For example, rather than just printing the number of units on a bottle of beer, we will add information about the number of bottles drunk by an average person each week and the volume of alcohol contained within that bottle." (p.21)

Whilst sections of the industry welcomed the proposal to scrap units, Alcohol Concern highlighted in a BBC report that campaigns have been effective in raising awareness. They also warned against voluntary regulation, stating "Allowing the industry to regulate itself is like a chocolate teapot. You need mandatory regulation."

Perhaps more significantly, though not covered in the news, the green paper states:

"We will ban retailers from selling alcohol below cost price. (Belgium, France, Portugal and Spain have already introduced policies to do this.125) To achieve this we will work with competition regulators and retailers to find a fair formula that could be used to judge whether a product is being sold below cost."  (p.24)

This follows the recent and highly publicised report from the Health Select Committee which called for a minimum price, largely unfavoured by the public. Interesting that the minimum pricing measure and proposal to stop 'below cost selling' seem to have the same overall objective, but have received disparate levels of attention. Plans to increase taxes on certain drinks were also outlined last year by the Conservatives.

New Licensing and alcohol powers come in

Certain conditions of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 will come into effect on the 29th January 2010, namely:

• section 28 (persistent sales to children - "three strikes to two strikes")
• section 29 (confiscation of alcohol from under 18's);
• section 30 (new offence of persistently possessing alcohol in a public place by under 18's);
• section 31 (extending directions to leave to those aged 10 or over),
• section 33 (allowing licensing authorities to act as interested parties)

It was announced by the Home Office minister that guidance on the young people provisions and the licensing authorities as interested parties would be available by the end of the month. 

However there was no news on the controversial mandatory licensing code, which was legislated in the act but has been subject to ongoing rumours of it being scrapped. However according to a recent report the Home Office has said 'the Government is committed to the mandatory code and plans to deliver it remain on track'.