The Home Office has written to Local Authorities inviting them to apply to take part in the second round of the Local Alcohol Action Area (LAAA) project. Up to 40 areas in England and Wales may be chosen to receive support from 'central government and, where appropriate, the alcohol industry' - see the LAAA round 2 prospectus here [pdf].
The second round was announced earlier this year in the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy which emphasised local partnership approaches, particularly relating to initiatives to reduce alcohol-related crime and disorder. Local areas applying will be required to 'tackle one or more of a core set of challenges focused on preventing crime and disorder in the night time economy' that include:
- How can local areas improve the collection, sharing and use of data between A&E Departments, local authorities and the police?
- How can local authorities, the police and businesses ensure the safe movement of people in the night time economy?
- How can local areas expand their use of safe spaces?
- How can local authorities, the police and business work together to help prevent the sale of alcohol to drunks in both the off- and on-trades?
- How can local authorities, the police and business work together to help design out crime?
Local areas selected to partake in the LAAA's do not receive funding, but are allocated a central government 'support manager' and 'access to expert advice from elsewhere in Government, and from a set of mentors who may be able to provide insight and expertise'.
Further support 'where appropriate' will be offered through schemes that are members of the Local Alcohol Partnership Group, which include Best Bar None, Pubwatch, Purple Flag and Street Pastors. Other support may be offered by the Portman Group, Drinkaware and Secured by Design.
LAAA phase one claims success
According to the prospectus, the first round of the LAAA was a 'success' which 'enabled areas to strengthen partnership working, including with health, crime, licensing, industry and other partners'. It states formal evaluation was not possible owing to the short timeframe and variety of projects, which ran between February 2014 and March 2015. Feedback was stated as 'overwhelmingly positive', whilst Annex B provides a number of case studies. Three key points were identified as 'crucial to ensuring the success of local solutions':
- Partnership working enabled areas to share resources, pool ideas, skills and assets to sustain activity. Collaboration was not limited to public sector partners. Improved working with private sector partners also enabled areas to achieve more.
- Senior level support gave initiatives greater priority, brought new partners on board and made resources available to support new initiatives.
- Sharing and analysing better quality data provided local areas with a clearer picture of where and when problems existed and enabled them to deploy their resources more effectively.
LAAA and partnerships - central to national alcohol policy?
The extent to which a national policy focus on local partnership activity will undoubtedly continue to dissatisfy groups wishing to see firmer Government alcohol policy. Those who consider there to be a lack of robust evaluation over the range of schemes included in the programme are also unlikely to be impressed by the absence of formal evaluation of phase one or any stated intention to do so for phase two. Despite this, partnership work at local level may be recognised as integral to effective 'multi-component' strategies.
Colin Angus, an author of Four Nations, a report on the extent of evidence based policy across the UK nations, commented:
Local authorities are required to submit applications to take part by 18 November 2016. For more information email [email protected]. The areas selected are expected to be notified by December.
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