A new report released by the Alliance for Useful Evidence explores the extent to which alcohol policies across the UK nations are evidence-based.
Download 'Four Nations: How evidence–based are alcohol policies and programmes across the UK?' [pdf] or.
See here for a blog post by authors Niamh Fitzgerald (University of Stirling) and Colin Angus (University of Sheffield) discussing the reasons behind alcohol policy divergence across the UK.
By contrast, the UK Government did not support the most effective policies, made inconsistent use of evidence, and was the most engaged with the alcohol industry. While Wales and Northern Ireland took strong positions in areas such as taxation and restrictions on young drivers, they have fewer legislative powers than the Scottish Parliament.
Local strategy: a reflection of national policy?
The report also explores how local strategy approaches are delivered across the UK, detailing the different approaches:
In Scotland, each local area is mandated by the national alcohol framework to have a strategic, multi-agency partnership made up of representatives from the NHS, police, local authority and third sector organisations. These ‘Alcohol and Drug Partnerships’ are required to submit local strategies to deliver improvements in 7 core ... and additional locally established outcomes, and they are responsible for decisions to achieve these. Nationally identified core indicators exist for each of the core outcomes. There is no equivalent to this system in England or Wales...
...Local authorities in England must have a ‘Health and Wellbeing Board’ which is responsible for developing a Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy. These arrangements do not necessarily include alcohol. In addition, there is a range of supportive activity underway by Public Health England to share information around initiatives to tackle alcohol-related harm between local authorities, encourage self-assessment, and to support them in implementing various alcohol interventions. This work is welcome and valuable, and similar work is underway through the national health-improvement agencies in the other nations of the UK, but it relies on the voluntary engagement of local authorities and seems therefore less likely to be effective in driving consistent evidence-based practice across all authorities, particularly in local authorities which have not prioritised alcohol as an issue.
Of course many in the field will be familiar with the range of pressures and influences relating to alcohol policy at national and local level; issues which evidently also play out at UK and international level to varying degrees. A 2009 study, The Orientation and Integration of Local and National Alcohol Policy in England and Wales, also explored the interaction of national and local policy through real case studies.
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