A new evaluation report shows that the illegal sale of alcohol to intoxicated customers in Liverpool was reduced by an intervention designed to improve awareness and enforcement of server law.
Download 'Evaluation of the Liverpool Drink Less Enjoy More intervention' [pdf]
The project evolved from an earlier 'Say No To Drunks' initiative developed by local agencies, which aimed to address the sale of alcohol to intoxicated customers in the city’s nightlife through a 'multi-component approach'. It aimed to increase awareness of legislation; support bar staff compliance with the law; provide a strong deterrence to selling alcohol to drunks; and promote responsible drinking amongst nightlife users.
The subject of sales to 'drunks' has been previously identified as an issue given the extent to which sales to intoxicated customers routinely takes place in some environments. In 2013 a Liverpool study found the 84% of 'pseudo-intoxicated' actors were sold alcohol despite being trained to deliberately exhibit signs of drunkenness. Use of the term 'drunks' though itself is contentious given its lack of legal clarity and its rather labelling tone.
The 'Drink Less Enjoy More' intervention included a number of components. Campaign elements included social media and promotional materials such as posters and t-shirts, with other messaging targeting bars and university halls. Bar staff were trained in refusal skills and enhanced police enforcement activity was undertaken.
The evaluation, conducted by Liverpool John Moore's Centre for Public Health, demonstrated improvements in a number of measures. Before the intervention, 84% of the test purchases by 'pseudo-intoxicated' actors were served, which reduced significantly to 26% following the programme. Other outcomes showed the proportion 'nightlife users' who where aware it was illegal to sell to a drunk person increased from 45% to 66%, whilst the proportion of participants agreeing that bar staff in the city centre do not care if people get drunk on their premises decreased from 63% to 51%. The perceived level of drunkenness that nightlife users reach on a night out in the city centre decreased from 8.6 to 8.2. However the total median expected alcohol consumption over the course of the full night out increased post-intervention from 16 to 20 units.
The conclusion states the evaluation findings are 'extremely positive' and recommendations from the report include:
- Bar server propensity to serve alcohol to drunk people should be regularly monitored by police, and on occasion through the use of the pseudo-intoxicated actor methodology
- Training in identifying drunkenness and refusing service of alcohol to drunks should be maintained as a key feature of bar staff training for all venues in Liverpool’s nightlife
- Future intervention materials and promotion should focus on the posters, displayed in public settings outside and within the night-time environment, as well as radio adverts.
- Work to prevent drunkenness and sales of alcohol to drunks should be undertaken as part of a broader strategic approach that recognises the wider influences on alcohol use. This should include consideration of policy options around permitted alcohol service hours and minimum unit pricing that are likely to influence both overall alcohol consumption and in particular harmful drinking behaviours such as preloading.
More action?
In 2014 a report called for a review into the sales to intoxicated legislation and further work exploring the role of the retail environment, retailers and enforcement agencies, but there appears to be limited activity seeking to address the issue directly. The use of breathalysers by door staff may be one exception, which appeared to be increasingly popular last year, albeit mainly as a mechanism to reduce confrontations with door staff.
Without a policy shift that addresses the wider retail environment or strengthens perceived weaknesses in the enforceability of the law, progress may rely largely on the shoulders of retailers. However the Liverpool project demonstrates that local multi-component approaches can have an impact, even if limited in addressing pre-loading and the broader influences on nightlife users.
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