Alcohol Policy UK

Alcohol Focus Scotland: newsletter feature on minimum price ahead of final Alcohol Bill stage

Alcohol Focus Scotland's latest In Focus Newsletter [pdf] is now available. The edition features an exploration of minimum pricing and surrounding issues as the Alcohol Bill approaches its final stage. The Scottish National Party's attempt to introduce a 45 pence per unit minimum price was blocked by opposition parties at the second stage, despite the offer of a 'sunset clause'.

In the Newsletter, Chief Executive Dr Evelyn Gillan writes:

"The Scottish Government may reintroduce minimum pricing prior to the final debate in November but it is unlikely to be supported. With no credible, alternative pricing measure on the table, politicians appear determined to put party political interests before the public health interest. If the Parliament does vote to take minimum pricing out of the Bill during the final debate, we will have missed a historic opportunity to dramatically improve the health and well-being of our nation."

The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) recently called for increased taxation on alcohol to mimic the effect of minimum pricing, though Professor Petra Meier highlighted options should not be confined to an "either or" approach.

To receive a copy of In Focus by post email here. See here for more on Alcohol Focus Scotland or visit the discussion forum.

Survey of Publicans in the North East identifies declining business and support for minimum pricing

Balance, the regional alcohol group for the North East, has carried out a Survey of North East Publicans [pdf] to explore business, trends and policy issues affecting publicans.

A total of 244 pubs and clubs in the North East of England took part in the survey. Key findings include:

• More than one in two pubs and clubs in the North East experienced a decline in business performance in the last year (56%); two fifths (38%) predict further decline in trade over the next twelve months.
• 72% say customers come in later after drinking at home.
• 88% of pubs and clubs say supermarket price promotions have adversely affected their trade.
• Supermarket pricing encourages drinks price promotions in the pub trade, 51% offer drinks promotions to counteract supermarket price cuts.
• Legislation to help address cheap supermarket pricing would be welcomed by 72% of publicans
• 81% of publicans support the introduction of a minimum price per unit of alcohol in the North East
• Publicans would welcome more consultation and engagement with councils and trading standards bodies.
• A majority favoured a return to fixed closing times (61%) whilst 39% felt 24 hour drinking was a good thing and should be retained.

London Mayor wants '24/7 sobriety' scheme for alcohol-fuelled offenders

Boris Johnson is lobbying the Government for permission to trial a scheme that would see Londoners convicted of alcohol-fuelled crime forced to stay sober or face prison. The idea is based on a reportedly successful scheme for drink-drivers in South Dakota where offenders are made to pay for their own regular sobriety tests, or face court proceedings. See reports in The Guardian and Telegraph.

Speaking on a BBC radio 4 feature, Kit Malthouse, Johnson's deputy mayor for policing, said London faced a "disproportionate" problem, with around 50% more alcohol-related crimes per 1,000 than the rest of the country (see regional alcohol figures and an assessment of the claim from fullfact.org). Malthouse argued that the scheme was "win, win" as it "costs the taxpayer nothing".

Don Shenker of Alcohol Concern said he was "dubious about the long term success" of the idea, instead highlighting that alcohol arrest referral programmes had been shown to be effective. However he said the Government was not backing these schemes which were based on a more successfull approach of brief advice (IBA). Kit Malthouse said there was no reason the two could not be run together.

A Guardian comment has argued the scheme is flawed on many levels. Currently Alcohol Treatment Requirements (ATRs) are often used as an alternative to a custodial sentences for those with alcohol dependency. See here for full guidance on addressing alcohol-related offending, and recent documents on IBA for offenders.

Latest Findings alcohol research Oct 10: Naltrexone aids treatment; Drink-driving cut by 30 minute talk; treatment aids families too

Latest alcohol research from the Findings database:

Naltrexone aids primary care alcohol treatment The large-scale US COMBINE study reinforced evidence that the opiate-blocking drug naltrexone also helps dependent drinkers and extended its potential to the kind of drinkers and the kind of treatments found in primary care settings.

Drink-driving cut by 30-minute talk with hospital patients Risky drinkers admitted to a US hospital following a traffic accident had fewer arrests for drink-driving after a short talk with hospital staff about their drinking, the first such finding and one which strengthened the case for hospital-based brief alcohol interventions.

Patient-focused alcohol treatment aids wives and children too Whether families benefit from alcohol treatment as well as the patients has rarely been studied. This US analysis demonstrated that they do, positioning treatment as also a child and family welfare intervention. Such added value should help sustain treatment in the face of current financial cutbacks.

News & updates Oct 2010: pre-loading; social media effect on young people; STIs

'Pre-loaders' are being targeted in a bid to reduce alcohol-related violent crime in Watford, the local Observer reports. Police officers arrive early in the town centre to turn away any visitors judged to have “pre-loaded” before visiting Watford's bars and nightclubs. Police are using powers to seize alcohol and hand out section 27 notices to temporarily ban someone from the area. Westminster council is responding to pre-loading concerns through its licensing policy.

Social media is 'normalising' drunken behaviour, a report in Irish Health says. Fionnuala Sheehan of the Irish drinkaware.ie website said the growing popularity of social networking, video sharing and publishing photos online ‘means young people consider it normal to document their nights out and use social media to let their friends know what they're up to'. Last year the BMA published a report on the effect of alcohol advertising on young people. See recent children and alcohol reports from Alcohol Concern.

Why do record numbers of young people have sexually transmitted infections is explored in this Guardian Focus podcast. Rosie Swash investigates the reasons for the UK's high level of sexually transmitted diseases among 15 to 24-year-olds, which includes perspectives on the role of alcohol.

Police in Northumbria are encouraging people to report anyone buying alcohol for children after two 12-year-olds were bought alcohol. The police ask that 'anyone with information about underage drinking and any concerns that shops are supplying children with alcohol should contact their local Neighbourhood Policing Team on 03456 043 043 ext 69191'. See here.

In other news, a recent feature in Drink and Drugs News (DDN) titled 'The Alcohol debate' (pdf here) provoked a number of responses in the latest issue (see page 8). The Morning Advertiser has published a speech on alcohol policy by industry head Ralph Findley, given at The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) annual dinner. Two new articles are also up on the politics of drinking blog. For regular drugs and alcohol news and press coverage you can follow DS Daily.

Young people's alcohol misuse: rising A&E attendances and action needed, says Alcohol Concern report

The number of under-18s admitted to hospital due to drinking increased by 32% between 2002 and 2007; an average of 36 children a day admitted for alcohol-related conditions. Underage alcohol-related hospital admissions, emergency department attendances and ambulance service call-outs cost almost £19million nationally in 2007/08. 

The figures have been released by Alcohol Concern in a new report that highlights 12,832 young people under 18 years old were admitted to hospital for alcohol-related conditions in 2009. This  figure does not take into account the numbers of young people attending accident and emergency (A&E) departments, interacting with the police, and experiencing illness, accident and injury as a result of their alcohol consumption.

‘Right time, right place: Alcohol-harm reduction strategies with children and young people’ [pdf]

The Alcohol Concern report page says 'It is clear that, without effective prevention and intervention, this harmful behaviour will continue to normalise problem drinking and continue to advance pro-drinking cultural attitudes among children and young people.'

Alcohol Concern Chief Executive, Don Shenker said:

“As long as alcohol remains as heavily promoted as it currently is, young drinkers will continue to consume far more than they might otherwise, leading to inevitable health harms, wasting ambulance and police time.”

“As well as tackling the ludicrously cheap price of alcohol in some settings, we want all under-18-year-olds who turn up at A&E to be advised and supported to address their drinking.”

See here for coverage from the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian and The Telegraph. The report is the final of 3 released by the charity as part of Alcohol Awareness Week 2010.

For more on information and reports on young people's drinking see: 'Children, Young People and Alcohol', here for a number of further reports, and practitioner's guidance.

Children overexposed to alcohol advertising says Alcohol Concern

A report into alcohol marketing released by Alcohol Concern claims that alcohol producers and advertisers subjected over a million children to alcohol marketing during the televised England games of the World Cup in June 2010.

Overexposed: Alcohol marketing during the World Cup 2010 [pdf]

It says over a million children between four and fifteen years old were exposed to adverts from brands such as Stella Artois, Magners, Fosters, Carling and WKD during live England games shown on ITV. It suggests the total number of children exposed to alcohol adverts during the world cup could be as high as 5 million when taking all the live games shown into account.

The report outlines flaws in current advertising regulations and makes recommendations to better protect children from exposure to alcohol advertising, calling for a radical shake up of the advertising rules. Professor Sir Ian Gilmore of the Royal College of Physicians said:

"The evidence is clear - children are affected by alcohol marketing. It influences the age at which they start drinking and how much they then drink.  Alcohol is a drug of potential addiction and if drinks producers and retailers won’t stop pushing it at our children then urgent and tough legislation is needed to protect them”

In a Guardian article, David Poley of drinks industry organisation the Portman Group said:

"Alcohol marketing in the UK is strictly regulated to ensure it is responsible and aimed at adults... Advertising of alcohol on TV is not allowed if the proportion of under-18s in the audience rises to a certain level. One cannot eliminate under-18s from the audience altogether without imposing a total advertising ban."

The report is released as part of Alcohol Awareness Week 2010.

Researchers seeking ‘Young people who don’t drink alcohol or drink very little’

Researchers at Middlesex University are seeking to find out more about young people who don’t drink alcohol or drink very little. They are exploring how these young people manage their behaviour in the context of their social lives and what the effects are on their social identities.

The researchers are asking for help in identifying young people to talk to in interviews or group discussions.

If you know of anyone, either through your own personal or professional contacts, aged 16 – 25 years who doesn’t drink alcohol or drinks lightly please contact [email protected] or phone Rachel Hurcombe on 0758 363 0133.

Alcohol Awareness week: 18th October 2010 - is alcohol damaging childhood?

As Alcohol Awarness Week (AWW) kicks off from 18 to 24 October, a joint report from Alcohol Concern and the Children’s Society has been released:

Swept under the carpet: children affected by parental alcohol misuse 

The report identifies:

• An estimated 2.6 million children live with a parent whose drinking puts them at risk of neglect, and 705,000 live with a dependent drinker
• More than 100 children as young as five contacting ChildLine every week with worries about their parent's drinking
• 78% of young offenders who misuse alcohol found to have grown up in homes with parental alcohol abuse and domestic abuse

The report also calls for mandatory social work training in response to research showing that, despite factoring in more than 50 percent of their case loads, most social workers recieve little or no training on alcohol misuse issues. (See here for a pocket guide on susbtance misuse for social workers).

See the Alcohol Awareness Week page for more information.

Alcohol Focus Scotland recently released a story on 'Harmful parental drinking – the devastating effect on Scotland’s children.

Drug strategy and NHS commissioning reform consultation responses

Two consultations relevant to alcohol policy recently closed; the Home Office led 2010 Drugs Strategy consultation and the NHS commissioning reform proposals. Below we've highlighted responses from some key organisations.

Drugs strategy responses

Drugscope, the national charity for drug misuse, have supported the overarching aims set out in the consultation. In its response it highlighted members support a focus on "recovery and social (re)integration and applaud the recognition that delivering on this recovery vision requires a holistic approach". However a range of recommendations were made including 'a clear commitment to an evidence-based approach to drug policy', 'maintaining a ring fenced budget for drug and alcohol treatment' and 'consideration to the development of a joint drug and alcohol strategy'. See Drugsope's consultation response overview [pdf].

See here for responses from Transform, the drug policy and law reform organisation, Domestic Violence organisation the Stella Project, and drug and alcohol service providers Addaction & Westminster Drug Project UK.

NHS commissioning reform responses

The King's Fund response, Liberating the NHS: too far, too fast, suggests how the reforms should be implemented, also producing a guide that examines the past and future role for GPs in commissioning - A focus on GP commissioning.

The NHS Confederation's response sets out 40 suggestions for improving the new system but warned it will be 'exceptionally difficult to deliver major structural change and make £20 billion worth of efficiency savings at the same time.'

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) response included a press release which said 'GPs support stronger clinical leadership for commissioning services for patients, but training, time and resources are necessary to make it a success.'

The AERC Alcohol Academy's response said it was imperative that continued investment in alcohol treatment and prevention was vital and that alcohol's voice nust not be lost amongst the wider changes. It also called for recognition of the need for specific alcohol commissioning skills.