Alcohol and anti-social behaviour too often go hand in hand. A key example of this is a story from earlier this year, of a alcoholic drink called ‘dragon soop’ which was blamed for a ‘unprecedented rise of youth violence in Newcastle city centre’.[1] There were, following a bout of underage drinking, ‘several arrests of young people for serious assaults on members of the public’ within the city centre. Dragon Soop’s key distinguishing feature is it’s bright, youthful packaging and its high caffeine content, which combined with its alcohol content of 7.5%, create a perfect storm for anti-social behaviour.
Dragon Soop is not alone, and while this has affected young people in particular, alcohol affects all members of our society and sustains anti-social behaviour. In response to the King’s Speech earlier this year, NHS APA (NHS Addictions Provider Alliance) noted that ‘the absence of any mention of alcohol policy is alarming’.[2] While there have been some promising developments in government for other areas, mental health and housing being examples, alcohol policy has notably lacked behind in terms of parliamentary attention and focus. As NHS APA notes, there are ‘clear links between alcohol and mental health’ and we know that mental health is both a contributing factor to anti-social behaviour, both as perpetrators and victims, a Home Office (2002) review found that for 60% of those issued an ASBO, there was a mitigating factor such as mental distress, addiction, or learning disabilities. Alcohol also puts burden on other frontline services, and with inadequate focus, it means that they are hard pressed to attend to other concerns, such as anti-social behaviour and other community safety concerns. A clear vision on alcohol policy is therefore vital, it is important therefore to consider, what the current public policy landscape looks like regarding alcohol, and where should look for further policy developments.
The Alcohol Policy Context
Alcohol policy has seen varying degrees of attention throughout government. A huge deal of focus has been on the Licensing Act 2003, which brought an end to fixed licensing hours dating from the First World War. The intention of the Act was to ‘liberalise a previously rigid licensing system’, and the trends as a result showed a steady decline of alcohol consumption, there was also a notable decrease of alcohol-related crime, falling by over half ‘from approximately 990,000 in 2006/07 to 464,000 in 2016/17.[3] However, whilst there were significant changes in the level of consumption, there has also been a shift in where alcohol is being consumed, with more than two thirds of all alcohol now sold through the off-licenses and supermarkets, rather than pubs and bars. There has been no hard data verifying an increase in crime due to the Licensing Act, however, we did see targeted legislation come to fruition that attempted to deal with alcohol-related disorder. This included, Designated Public Place Orders, which gives councils the power to ban drinking in certain public places and Alcohol Disorder Zones, which intended to empower councils to surcharge licensed premises associated with disorder. These however have found no success, as there is difficulty in linking disorder to certain premises, as many will drink to go on to other venues.
During the coalition government there was some focus placed on tackling problems with alcohol without penalising responsible drinkers. In a report published of January 2010, the Health Select Committee of the period ‘identified the main problem as being the availability of cheap alcohol’ this was in the context of a steep decline in alcohol consumption in pubs and bars. As a result, the committee’s proposal was to introduce minimum pricing, and to eventually in the long term, increase duty rates significantly. Scotland has successfully introduced minimum ricing legislation (check this), however the Westminster government was ‘lukewarm about minimum pricing’ arguing that ‘it was a blunt instrument that would penalise those who drink responsibly’.
This battle in alcohol policy regulation, between ‘responsible’ and ‘binge drinkers’ is the battleground to which politicians and policymakers find themselves on. However, this struggle between these two groups, and the lack of political will as a result, has led to indecisive action. 1 in 5 children in the UK are affected by a parent’s alcohol use, and our local communities are victims of antisocial behaviour and alcohol fuelled violence.[4]Alcohol also costs England upwards of £27.4 billion every year, which means less money keeping communities safe. The question now is, is where do we go from here? What do other organisations say on this matter, and who leads by example?
Alcohol as a tool for self-medication – The Blue Light Approach
Did you consider looking at Alcohol Change and the work they are doing particularly around the blue light services. Further consider how alcohol is often a tool for self-medication and consider the work within supported housing and clinical commissioning groups around social prescribing. Doesn’t need to be much but I feel it should be referenced in terms of prevention intervention approach.
Analysing alcohol policy, it is key that often, as much as it is true in anti-social behaviour, that a preventative, more interventive is key in tackling public health, and community safety challenges. While there is more to be done, and to be analysed academically, on what policy works and what doesn’t it is also clear, that there is already work being done on understanding why alcohol often leads to the effects it has, and why people suffer with the effects of alcohol. Alcohol Change UK has done some work on Blue Light services, that highlight strategies and an idea that offers ‘a fundamental positive message that change is possible’.[5] The Blue Light project began as a production between 23 local authorities, and local staff and service users in each area contributed expertise to the development. This approach has now been adopted by an increasingly large number of local authorities across England and Wales.
The ’Blue Light Manual’ is designed to help develop targeted interventions that help reduce the costs of high impact drinking to public services. This follows what we at Resolve have been articulating, that early intervention and effective prevention is a strategy that is not only human, but also economical. The key elements of the approach are:
Building strategic ownership of the need to tackle the client group
Training of specialist and non-alcohol specialist staff in the Blue Light approach
Developing a multi-agency operational group to ensure a joint identification and ownership of the highest impact clients
Developing assertive outreach approaches by designing and evaluating services
Improving the response of local alcohol services through staff training and pathway development
Future in Alcohol Policy and Proposed Suggestions
Amongst lots of other suggestions and proposals for how to move forward with alcohol policy, there is one measure that is brought forward consistently, and that is minimum unit pricing. The Scottish Government already leads the way in this regard, and Westminster did propose such a measure in response to a consultation during the coalition government, however it did not materialise. Modelling work by Sheffield University and Cancer Research UK found that over a 20-year period, a 50p minimum price per unit of alcohol in England could reduce healthcare costs by £1.3 billion.[6] In Scotland, the first year the 50p minimum unit price came into effect, sales fell to their lowest level since records began in 1994. There is also very little evidence to suggest that this would lead to pub prices or have much of an impact of consumption on lower risk, ‘responsible drinkers.
A Local Government Association (LGA) survey polled people on issues around alcohol, 89% of those who responded reported that there is a demand within local authorities for a new public health licensing objective.[7] Empowering local authorities to control the availability of alcohol, gambling and junk food outlets could significantly limit the density and/or opening hours of alcohol outlets in our urban areas, and therefore could significantly reduce alcohol related harm within cities and the night time economy.
Marketing reinforces social norms and carries the perception that drinking persistently is normal. A survey by the charity Alcohol Focus Scotland found that 95% of 10- and 11-year olds recognised a beer brand. Schemes on labelling have not been implemented, and often fail to publish the information necessary about alcohol. A reported published by the Alcohol Health Alliance found that fewer than 10% of the 320 alcohol products surveyed had the low-risk guidelines of 14 units a week.[8] Changes to how we present health information, could help reinforce social norms, and therefore create a shift in perception of alcohol that makes the link between it and health and behavioural problems more obvious.
These suggestions, are, suggestions and are by no means the rulebook on the future of alcohol policy. It is clear however that in terms of community safety, there is a missing link present with the current landscape of alcohol regulation. Amongst all of the above suggestion, it is suggested that there should be some consideration for a joined up, multi-faceted strategy in tackling and reducing alcohol harm, as it is often a public health issue that encompasses not only health and addiction but also community safety. We welcome open dialogue on this issue, and if alcohol is something that you feel strongly about in your day-to-day work, we encourage discussion about how best to tackle this issue.
For more information, visit the Association of Directors of Public Health and their policy briefing on alcohol here: https://www.adph.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ADPH-Policy-Position-Alcohol-2019.pdf
[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/dragon-soop-newcastle-youth-crime-b2503919.html
[2] https://blog.dualdiagnosis.org.uk/nhs-apa-response-to-the-king-s-speech-2024/
[3] https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/10%2036_Licensing_Act_2003_V04%203_1.pdf
[4] https://nacoa.org.uk/research-resources/research/
[5] https://alcoholchange.org.uk/help-and-support/training/for-practitioners/blue-light-training/the-blue-light-project
[6] 3 Angus, C., Holmes, J., Pryce, R., Meier, P., & Brennan, A. (2016). Alcohol and cancer trends: Intervention Studies University of Sheffield and Cancer Research UK. Available at: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/sites/default/files/alcohol_and_cancer_trends_report_cruk.pdf
[7] Local Government Association, Public Health and the Licensing Process (2016)
[8] Alcohol Focus Scotland, 10 year olds more familiar with beer brands than biscuits [http://www.alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk/news/10-yearolds-more-familiar-with-beer-brands-than-biscuits/]
