DEPARTMENT FOR
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT News Release issued by The Government News
Network on 4 March 2008
MINISTERIAL
WRITTEN STATEMENT
LICENSING ACT 2003 AND TACKLING ALCOHOL-RELATED HARM
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Andy
Burnham): I am today publishing the evidence gathered so far on
the operation of the licensing laws introduced in England and
Wales in November 2005, and setting out how we intend to monitor
the licensing regime over the next few weeks and months, and the
immediate action the Government is taking to tackle
alcohol-related problems. Copies of the evaluation report are
being placed in the Library of both Houses.
This first review of the Licensing Act reveals a mixed picture.
Its introduction has not led to the widespread problems some
feared. Overall, crime and alcohol consumption are down. But
alcohol-related violence has increased in the early hours of the
morning and some communities have seen a rise in disorder.
Our main conclusion is that people are using the freedoms but
people are not sufficiently using the considerable powers granted
by the Act to tackle problems, and that there is a need to
rebalance action towards enforcement and crack down on
irresponsible behaviour.
Some aspects of the Act have worked well.
Bringing together six previous licensing regimes into a single
integrated scheme has resulted in a considerable reduction in red
tape - estimated at £99m per annum - with benefits not just for
business, but the third sector and non-profit making clubs too.
The Act has also delivered new powers and flexibilities enabling
local authorities and police to work in partnership to
significantly reduce crime and disorder in some areas.
At the same time, millions of people have been able to able to
enjoy the convenience of shopping at a time that suits them and
socialising in restaurants, bars and cafes beyond 11pm.
Furthermore, contrary to popular expectations:
* The average
closing time across all on-licensed premises has increased by only
21 minutes since the Act came into effect;
* the overall
volume of incidents of crime and disorder has remained stable and
not risen; and
* alcohol consumption, rather than increasing,
has instead fallen over this period.
In total, fewer than 4% of premises (some 5,100) have licences
permitting them to open for up to 24 hours a day - many of which
are hotels, stores and supermarkets. Only some 470 pubs, bars and
nightclubs have 24 hour licences, but there is no evidence that
more than a handful operate on that basis. The British Beer and
Pub Association informed a Select Committee recently that there
are only two traditional pubs in the entire country that operate
for 24 hours.
But beneath these headline facts the picture is much more mixed.
Whilst crimes involving violence may have reduced over the
evening and night time period, the evidence also points to
increases in offences, including violent crimes, reported between
3am and 6am. This represents 4 per cent of night-time offences.
Similarly, whilst there is no clear picture of whether alcohol
related demands on A&E services and alcohol-related admissions
have risen, some hospitals have seen a fall in demand, others have
reported an increase.
It is also clear that the overall reduction in alcohol-related
disorder we wanted to see across the country has not materialised
consistently in all areas.
The Government remains determined to address these issues, and
the report published today has helped us identify a number of ways
we can go further to protect the public, both in terms of using
all the flexibilities in the Act to crack down on irresponsible
behaviour, including more caution and conditions when issuing
licenses and the withdrawal of licences in certain areas, but also
introducing new initiatives to tackle anti-social behaviour
associated with alcohol consumption.
The announcements today contain measures to target those
businesses that continue to sell alcohol irresponsibly and cause
harm within our communities.
To specifically address the small but unacceptable proportion of
violent crimes occurring in the early hours of the morning, we
will undertake further comprehensive research into post-midnight
drinking patterns and their impact on crime and order, and will
not hesitate to take the necessary action through new legislation
and enforcement measures to tackle this.
But we will take immediate action now.
First, we will utilise existing powers to identify problem
premises. We will make it easier to review premises where local
intelligence suggests there is a problem.
Second, we will encourage the imposition of tougher sanctions on
those found to be breaching their licensing conditions. This
includes the stipulation that there be far more instant closures
of pubs and clubs in an area where there has been a disorder and
indefinite closure by the courts for any breach of licence
conditions. We will develop a toolkit for local authorities and
police, building on my Rt. Hon. Friend the Home Secretary's
recently published Guide for Dealing with Alcohol Related Problems.
Third, we will change the offence of "persistently selling
alcohol to a person under 18" from 'three strikes'
to 'two strikes' in three months. This means that any
seller who twice sells to under age drinkers and is caught doing
so will immediately lose their licence.
Fourth, we will support the police and local authorities to
identify problem hotspots by ranking geographical areas and
concentrations of premises on the basis of the risks they present
to crime and disorder, public nuisance and children. This will
allow licensing authorities the ability to exercise more caution
and conditions when issuing licenses, and wholesale withdrawal of
licences in these areas, and permit local authorities and police
to target enforcement resources more effectively at problem hotspots.
Finally, the message must be clear to all: breach your licensing
conditions and you face severe and costly restrictions on your
business - with a new "yellow card and red card" alert
system. A yellow card will put the problem premises on immediate
probation together with tough and uncompromising sanctions. And
when the circumstances are right, it will be a straight red card
leading to withdrawal of the licence.
To tackle wider anti-social behaviour associated with alcohol
consumption my Rt Hon Friend, the Home Secretary, will bring
forward legislation to:
* Increase the maximum fine for anyone
not obeying an instruction to stop drinking, or to give up their
drink in a designated public place from £500 to £2,500;
* Make it easier for the police to disperse anti-social drinkers
- both adults and children -from any location - if necessary, we
will change the law to make this happen;
* Extend the use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts for young
people caught drinking in public, to require them and their
parents to attend a session with a trained worker; and
* In addition, we will be extending the alcohol arrest referral
pilots that my Rt Hon Friend, the Home Secretary, announced last
month so that under 18s may also benefit from a brief intervention
from a trained worker. This will help deal with young people
drinking in public who are already involved in criminal activities.
I, together with my Rt Hon Friend, the Home Secretary, will
convene a summit of police and local authorities to explore how we
can take these proposals forward.
The report published today is not the end of the story. The
measures announced today are only part of the Government's
comprehensive strategy for combating the problems associated with alcohol.
A significant programme of work is underway over the next 6 months.
We are working with the industry on alcohol advertising, and
welcome industry consideration to give much more prominence to
clear information about the dangers of alcohol, and to actively
support Government campaigns to promote sensible drinking. We will
strongly encourage them to press on with trials to test their
effectiveness. If we need to, we will consider more restrictions.
Later in the year, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for
Children, Schools and Families will publish the Government's
action plan on young people and alcohol containing further
proposals for reducing drinking by young people specifically.
Later in the spring, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State
for Transport, will also set out measures for dealing with the
relatively small number of people who continue to think it is
acceptable behaviour to drink and drive.
The Department of Health will publish the results of the
independent study commissioned from the University of Sheffield to
look at the evidence on the relation between alcohol price,
promotion and harm and in response will bring forward necessary
action. The real cost of alcohol has fallen to historically low
levels, and there is already an emerging consensus that more needs
to be done to tackle irresponsible promotions and deep discounting
that can lead to anti social behaviour. The Government will begin
immediate work with the licensing authorities and retailers,
including the development of new codes on responsible sales and
promotions which might be considered as a condition of an alcohol licence.
In conclusion, we are prepared to take action wherever the
evidence suggests that it is necessary to tackle the problems
associated with alcohol.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur
Street
London SW1Y 5DH
http://www.culture.gov.uk