Birdwell, J., Wybron, I. & Vandore, E. (2013). Sobering up. Demos, London

8/13/2019 Birdwell, J., Wybron, I. & Vandore, E. (2013). Sobering up. Demos, London.

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Local partnershipsare fundamental intackling Britainsdrinking culture

SOBERING UP

Jonathan Birdwell

Ian Wybron

Emma Vandore


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Demos is Britains leading cross-party t

We produce original research, publish

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First published in 2013 Demos. Some rights reserved

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ISBN 978 1 909037 48 9Series design by modernactivity


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SOBERING UPJonathan BirdwellIan WybronEmma Vandore


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Contents

Acknowledgements

Executive summary

Introduction

1 The policy context

2 Underage drinking

3 Binge drinking and the night-time

4 Street drinkers and dependent d

5 Partnerships: local shops as part

the solution

6 Recommendations

Notes

References


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Acknowledgements

This report was only made possible thankssupport of the Association of Convenienceto express particular thanks to Shane BrenLowman for their continued support assitheir members, providing valuable feedbac

the report and also for providing a platformfindings at the annual ACS Heart of the CoWe would of course like to thank the

interviewed including shop workers and representatives from police and trading stacouncillors, council officers, public health individuals from alcohol and homelessnessfar too many to name here, but particular thelped make our case study visits possible:Marie Canham from James Hall & Co in BScowen from The Co-operative Group in M

Loring from Community Alcohol PartnershStrawson from Kent Trading Standards, fothe Edenbridge case study; and finally, JamGrosvenor from the East of England Co-opwith our visit to Ipswich.

At Demos, we would like to thank RaMacpherson for their feedback on our recosteering the report through production. Alinterns Rishab Mehan for his dedication

f h h ld Al d

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Executive summary

9

Background

Britains relationship with alcohol is mixedengrained in the British economy and comshows that overall we are drinking less thanago. Yet, the harms of Britains alcohol conknown through press stories and our persoSome communities suffer from severe probunderage drinking, the harms of binge drin

street drinkers.The Governments Alcohol Strategy l

cheap high-strength alcohol, and lobbied fprice and a ban on multi-buy promotions iproposals have since been shelved because

and the impact for those on low incomes. Istrong national policy, local authorities andboards, which hold responsibility for publithe way.

L l h i i ill b bl il


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The findings in this report are based on literature review as well as original primary recouncillors, council officers, public health reppolice, trading standards offices, alcohol suppshop owners and workers. Our research focus

four areas: Blackpool, Ipswich, Manchester anareas were chosen for their mix of alcohol-relawell as their geographical and demographic spareas Ipswich and Kent were chosen to expartnership schemes involving local retailers. included the police-led Reducing the Strengthstreet drinking; in Kent, it included a commupartnership to tackle underage drinking. The Blackpool case studies allowed us to explore ibinge drinking and the night-time economy. Wtotal of 50 stakeholders in these areas.

In each area, we based our research in nand streets that were identified to us as being particular problems. Thus, the insights from tnot be representative of the country overall. Twe supplemented our case studies with appro

telephone interviews with off-licence retailers including small independent shop owners andlarger chain stores. We also added questions tof Local Shops national survey in August 2013

h

Executive summary


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sensible drinking among young people. Socontinental approach that introduces alcowhile others maintain that the current age Research is inconclusive on this question, bdelaying the age of unsupervised drinking

drunkenness decreases the risk of alcohol p

The most successful approaches to tackling u

focus on the parents, education, and providin

fun and productive diversionary activities

Previous Demos research has highlighted tparenting style and alcohol consumption inlikelihood of developing problematic drinkthose reports, we recommend targeted infocampaigns for parents, greater use of identadvice interventions, and more intensive pa

parents with alcohol problems. With respeinitiatives that focus on developing characas the ability to delay gratification), or thatbehavioural economics (for example, chanthat most people in a peer group drink), sh

evidence. Finally, the Kent case study provconfirmation of the importance of fun anddiversionary activities for young people in problematic underage drinking.

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retailers and individual employees who fail a textremely difficult, however, for local shops toagainst proxy purchasers. More needs to be dcommunicate the harms of underage drinkingadults and discourage them from purchasing

people under age.

Binge drinking and the night-time economy

Local partnerships and on-the-street support in

and clubs, the health service and local charities

tackling alcohol harms associated with the nigh

Evidence suggests that local partnership scheincluding Pubwatch (http://pubwatchonline.Bar None (www.bbnuk.com/), can be success

crime and disorder associated with binge drinsuccessful approaches that we came across incand other methods of on-the-street support. Iexample, there is local support for a Safe Havprovides a respite service for late-night clubbe

effective education programmes could also haimpact on the culture of binge drinking.

There is no evidence of a causal link between th

Executive summary


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Some retailers are on the front line of alcoho

crime and need more support from police tocustomers who are very drunk

Some stakeholders assumed that off-licenceeasy ride when dealing with the fallout frocompared with the on-licence trade. In real

retailers need support to deal with violent abehaviour they experience as a result of binwe interviewed reported being punched, anhospitalised, as well as having to deal with youths. Smaller retailers with fewer staff arvulnerable. Local shops need support and deal with customers who are drunk, and hobe before they are refused a sale.

Dependent street drinking

Voluntary bans alone are not sufficient to tac

dependent street drinkers

The Reducing the Strength campaign in Ipwell-known example of attempting to tackl

dependent street drinkers. Two-thirds of lovoluntarily removed some cheap high-strenHowever, one of the most significant elemethe Strength campaign was engaging with

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excessive alcohol consumption. We found thasignificant grey area, and much confusion, abretailers in refusing to serve dependent drinkeshop owners and those on the till to make decbest to deal with potentially dependent custom

we heard one was trying to wean a customer oalcohol, while another expressed uncertainty keeping certain drinks artificially low in pricethose with severe problems who may otherwisthe black market. There is therefore space forships between shops and charities that work tdependent drinkers.

Recommendations

General

Local authorities and health and wellbeing boar

local shops are at the heart of strategic partners

alcohol harms

Half of all local shops are either unaware of lo

tackle alcohol harms, or have not been contacauthorities. Only 1 in10 have attended a partnLocal authorities need to tackle this issue, parprioritising engagement with unaffiliated ind

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Shops should be incentivised to take part in

schemes by offering incentives such as free straining

The benefits of being involved in a partnercommunicated to shop keepers. Providing offer of training and support, could help to

commitment. The cost of these activities cothe introduction of late-night levies, or proretailers and supermarkets as their contribuand independent businesses on diverse hig

Targeting underage drinking

Local authority and health experts should run

campaigns aimed at parents to shift attitudes

underage drinking

Local authorities with high alcohol harms ineed to communicate the dangers of underparticularly unsupervised drinking, to pareinclude awareness campaigns aimed at redupurchasing, which could be run in shops, s

premises and in GP surgeries.

Local shops should use social sanctions and m

customers that proxy purchasers will be bann

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current minimum of 40 hours unpaid work. Talcohol-related, and could include participatinservices during peak hours of the night-time etown centre drunk bus, or street support servibottles and litter the following morning. Ther

provision for proxy purchasers to work with aattend a course on alcohol harms.

Police and local authorities should clamp down

drinking in public places and ensure the provisio

activities for young people

Police and local authorities need to get toughpublic places such as parks and car lots wdrinkers congregate. However, such tough enmeasures must go hand-in-hand with ensuringpositive activities for young people in local ar

the Kent case study shows that providing divefor young people is essential to reducing und

Tackling binge drinking and the night-time econ

Police and local authorities should provide local

guidance on refusing sales to intoxicated custom

support when required

Executive summary


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with the costs to police and the NHS of theGovernment has recently introduced a latepremises licensed to sell alcohol have to pacosts in the local area. But we recommend individuals who are drunk and disorderly,

offenders, to place a far higher financial buresponsible for alcohol-related antisocial b

Police should refuse to allow very drunk indi

centres in areas with high levels of alcohol-re

Police and local authorities should seek to drunk people who are entering city centresto the city centre, issue them a warning, or some time in a designated area sobering upbenefits of this proposal would need to be considered very carefully by local authoriti

Tackling dependent drinkers

Local schemes should be developed that ma

substance misuse workers and other supportlocal shops and provide guidance about how

with dependent drinkers

Our research found little interaction betwe

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approach that targets the kind of deep exclusthese particular drinkers face. The Ipswich inbased on effective collaboration between retaagencies, and which encouraged drinkers intointeresting model that could be examined by

improved on.

Executive summary


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Introduction

19

It is often argued that Britain has a drinkinfrequently cited statistics to demonstrate thadmissions where alcohol is the primary fa

since 2002/03, and a rise of alcohol-relatedsince 2001.5According to the National Tremillion people in the UK have some form dependency, though it is unclear how this f

Alcohol-related harms are estimated to cos

billion each year according to an impact asOffice.7 Of this amount 11 billion is the cocrime, and most of the remainder is the coslong-term health treatments for alcohol-rel

However, Britains relationship with d

complicated than these figures suggest. Realcohol consumption in the UK is actually According to the General Lifestyle Survey National Statistics) the number of men whl h l i h l k f ll f

I t d ti


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This important decline in the numbers oin Britain too often goes unnoticed amid the hdrinking. It is also important to bear in mind industry generates a huge amount of consumpbusiness in the UK. Alcohol is deeply ingrain

as an integral part of celebration and communpeople consume alcohol responsibly and in a their quality of life.

Yet, it is clear that there are some areas osuffer from very high levels of consumption, aparticular harms, such as underage drinking,

crime and antisocial behaviour as part of the economy, or chronic alcoholism. For exampleauthority profiles revealed that Birmingham, Leeds experience the highest numbers of alcoin the country, while County Durham, Liverp

and Leeds rank the worst for the number of uto hospital with alcohol-specific causes.10

Frequently the issues that generate the mthe harms associated with binge drinking andeconomy. It is often argued that the current g

people drinks to excess and considers the expexcessive drinking as a badge of honour. A nuare given for this phenomenon, from increasinwomen drinking to excess, to the role of socia

d h h l h d

Introduction

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In the first chapter of this report, we options under consideration by the UK GoScottish Government and local authorities alcohol-related harms. The centrepiece of tlatest national alcohol strategy was a minim

alcohol of 45p, following the Scottish examunit price of 50p. The policy was recently pdebates over its effectiveness and the disprwould have on those on lower incomes.

In its place, the Government is pushiproducers and retailers to make changes to

produced and sold. With the creation of Puthe Government has also devolved alcoholities and local health and wellbeing boardsbility of a diversity of different approacheslocal areas particular issues. This makes it

ever that local authorities and those responare aware of the evidence about the most ef

This report highlights the evidence othree core problems cited above: underagedrinking and the night-time economy, and

drinking. We do not claim that these issueswidespread across all of the UK. Rather thspecific to certain local areas and neighbouissues exist, it is important that efforts to ta

d d b d f bl

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Introduction


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evidence, we undertook original primary reseshops across the country in order to look at wdoing to tackle some of these problems. As liclocal shops are required to undertake certain with being responsible retailers. But there arelooking specifically at how well local shops adabove and beyond these commitments.

Because of the place-based nature of alcconducted fieldwork in four case-study locatiBlackpool, Manchester and Edenbridge (Kena number of key stakeholders in each location

trading standards officers, councillors and puas well as local shop owners. In each interviewof questions about local alcohol-related problto tackle them, how local shops contribute to what more they should be doing.

The case-study locations were chosen fogeographical spread, experience of specific alproblems, as well as interesting initiatives in toff-licence shops that aimed to tackle a specifito learn what were the driving factors behind

and how could they be replicated elsewhere.Ipswich is home to the campaign Reducwhere local shops are invited by Suffolk polictheir shelves the cheap, high-strength alcohol

h h bl h d d d

Introduction

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1,900 licensed premises in Blackpool, whicfor every 72 residents.Manchester is the largest of our case-

any city of its size, Manchester has a mix oproblems including those related to its vibreconomy. We concentrated our research in also the Fallowfield ward, which has a highThe city ranks 9th worst for binge drinkingauthorities.

Edenbridge is a small rural town in Kof less than 8,000. It served as a pilot site f

Alcohol Partnership in response to problemdrinking. It has only a small number of licecompared with our other case-study areas ilevels of alcohol-related problems.

Across our case-study areas we interv

stakeholders, and 26 local shop keepers. Wadditional 17 telephone interviews with off-the country, including small independent smanagers of larger chain stores and branchoperative. We also added six questions to t

Shops national survey of August 2013, whiindependent shops (both symbol group fraaffiliated independents). These questions wwhich shops experienced alcohol-related ph l h h k k h ld

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1 The policy cont

25

Successive government strategies have souBritains harmful drinking culture. The preGovernment relaxed licensing rules to allowan attempt to bring Britain closer to the ca

European countries. It was argued that sombinge drink because pubs and shops stoppallowing places to stay open later meant thdone at a more leisurely pace. The current that the caf culture failed to materialise an

in Britain suffer from alcohol-related crimeassociated with the night-time economy. Itof alcohol as the cause of Britains drinking

In this chapter we summarise the polproposed and adopted by the current Gove

Government and local authorities across thdifferences, much of the thinking around tharms has remained relatively consistent sistrategy in 2004, with education of the pub

hi l ibili i f h l h l i d

The policy context


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unit price divided politicians in all three majomany in support of such a move and others arevidence was inconclusive. In the end, both pdropped because of inconclusive evidence andimpact it would have on responsible drinkers feeling a cost of living pinch.

In place of a minimum unit price, the Gseeking to take action on the price of alcohol below cost (defined as duty plus VAT), comi2014. This policy will aim to put an end to theleading in shops, most often supermarkets, w

sold at a loss to get people in the door to buywhich the price has not changed. Many suppominimum unit price, however, see this policy tackling the problem of excessive alcohol conInstitute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that

only affect 1 per cent of off-licence alcohol unthat was actually sold at below cost in 2010).1

While dropped by the UK GovernmentGovernment has now legislated for minimumon multi-buy deals in the off-trade. The propo

price is set at 50p, and has brought a legal chaScotch and Whisky Association, though the SGovernment won the first court case. The UKthe public health lobby will no doubt be watc

l d d h l

e po cy co te t

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promote four licensing objectives: the prevdisorder, public safety, prevention of publiprotection of children from harm. If the coapplication for a licence, it has to provide egranting the licence would detract from theobjectives. This evidence can come from resuch as the police or the fire service, or repperson living in the vicinity.

Under the PRSRA there are now morlocal organisations and individuals to get idecisions. Public health bodies have becom

authorities, and will be notified immediatelicensing decisions. The legislation also malicensing authorities to refuse licence appliconditions on licences. The same goes for tcumulative impact policies, which enable li

limit the number of licensed premises they alcohol if granting the licence would have the four licensing objectives.

The 2012 Alcohol Strategy sought to introducing a public health objective to th

specifically for the purposes of cumulative would enable licensing authorities to restripremises selling alcohol if there are significhealth problems in the area. But this propod d f h b f ll

The policy context


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targeted on the high street or a particular areaharms associated with the night-time econom

Devolving power to local authorities

Granting new powers to local licensing authowider localism agenda being pursued by the CGovernment. The new police and crime commresponsible for working collaboratively with hand local authorities to tackle alcohol-related

The restructuring of the health system a

implications for local responses to alcohol-relHealth and Social Care Act 2012 created localwellbeing boards in each local authority, whichealth professionals and councillors to produneeds assessments and strategies to feed in to

decisions. Each local authority additionally ggrant, including funding for alcohol services, fit to meet local needs. The new national bodEngland oversees and supports these decisionevidence of best practice. The emphasis on lo

in the Governments support of local voluntatackle alcohol-related harm such as communipartnerships, and the Best Bar None scheme i

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providing clear product labelling on unit cmessaging on units in on-trade and off-tradunderage sales through Challenge 21 and Cthe alcohol charity Drinkaware; taking actiresponsibly; and supporting local schemesalcohol partnerships. In the latest pledge thwill remove 1 billion units of alcohol from t

The Government also states in the 20work closely with the Portman Group, the

Authority (ASA) and Ofcom to ensure thatbe advertised responsibly, including across

A period of uncertainty

The Governments strong lobbying for a mand ban on multi-buy promotions, and its

have created a period of uncertainty with rpolicy. This confusion at the national level structural changes in devolving responsibildown to local authorities. The absence of acreating a vacuum that is now being filled

Some local authorities including coEast Cheshire and Bristol are continuingnational government originally set and atteminimum unit pricing in local areas. Other

d h h d d b

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local authorities aim to tackle underage drinkbinge drinking and the night-time economy, astreet drinkers.

In the next three chapters we present thtrends and most effective approaches for eachproblems. We also highlight the findings fromwith local shop owners to show what they areissues, and what they could be doing more oflook at examples of the best partnerships to tahighlight to decision-makers how to draw up right partnership between the regulators and

Having a licence to sell alcohol, rightly, significant responsibilities. Too often, the pubpublic health are unaware of many of the actialready taking to be responsible alcohol retailof big brands like the Co-operative Group ha

and clear guidelines, there is a common perceand independent shops are less likely to be asresearch finds that, on the whole, small and inare already taking a number of steps to mitigabut are often forced to contend with a lack of

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2 Underage drink

When you hear about high-strength alcohol at pockinference is that young people are buying it.

Debate continues about the best appr

young people to alcohol. Proponents of thapproach argue that when parents introduchildren in family settings and in moderatenormalise alcohol and reduces the likelihodeveloping problems later in life. On the o

has shown that drinking at a younger age ideveloping alcohol-related problems later i

Underage drinking is on the decline

There has been a significant improvement underage drinking in the last decade. In 20reported drinking alcohol in the last week, four who reported drinking alcohol in the

d l b h h

Underage drinking


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cent had deliberately tried to get drunk, demothe close correlation between drinking and drage.16

Moreover, those who are drinking appeahigher quantities than previous generations; tmore of an issue in some places in the UK thaprimarily the north of England. For example,alcohol profiles for England show that the nu18s admitted to hospital for alcohol-specific cohighest in Isle of Wight, Copeland, Burnley, Land Salford.17

What are the best approaches to prev

drinking?

Of course, preventing underage young people

alcohol in off-licences and pubs and clubs is erequired to ask for the ID of people purchasinunderage through Challenge 25 and other IDTo encourage shops to be vigilant, the Governdoubled the fine that shops could face, which

20,000 for those where staff have frequentlyto underage young people.18

Yet, research suggests that only a tiny pealcohol consumed by underage young peopleh f l k f f

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the on- and off-trade) failing a test purchasfallen dramatically in recent years from 424 per cent in 2010. The latest figures fromsuggest that the off-trade is doing better tha 79 per cent pass rate for off-trade premiseper cent pass rate for the on-trade.

Reducing underage drinking thus reqparents and adults on the issue of proxy pufurther below. Research also suggests that approaches to tackling underage drinking parenting more generally, implementing ef

programmes and providing young people wproductive diversionary activities.

Targeting parents

As cited above, previous Demos research hbetween parenting style and parental alcoha childs likelihood of developing problemthe time they are 16 (and even later in life awe found that controlling for all other po

factors high levels of parental warmth wh5 significantly reduce the chances the childat 16. We also found that disengaged parenchild over eight times more likely to drink

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Underage drinking


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purchasing alcohol for underage young peopthem to drink it unsupervised.

Effective education programmes

Another important element in targeting undeintroduce effective, evidence-based educationResearch suggests that the standard alcohol aprogrammes are inadequate, but that other insuccess by focusing on developing characteras the ability to delay gratification) or through

of behavioural economics (for example, by chperceptions that most young people drink, anundercutting peer pressure).22

Diversionary activitiesOur case study in Edenbridge, Kent, in particthe importance of diversionary activities for yreduce underage drinking. A community alcoestablished in order to tackle problems with u

Its purpose was to get large chains and small shops to work together with other stakeholdepresent a coordinated approach. According tostakeholders whom we spoke to, the success ol h l h h h l d d

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interviewed had a zero tolerance line with apolicy in store. Most shops claimed to havestaff training on refusing underage sales, arefusals book to show authorities.

Larger retailers often have the capacibeyond the minimum requirements. Storesoperative, and some of the larger symbol gsuch as Spar, have electronic till prompts atraining materials, including DVDs and onstaff on underage sales. Some have tried inprint technology at the point of sale. Sever

interviewed also hire private test-purchasinServe Legal to ensure that standards on unmet (often to prove to trading standards oftaking the issue seriously).

Smaller independents often lack the r

additional steps to prevent underage and pexample, an unaffiliated independent withoperating on a tight budget is less likely topay a private test-purchasing company. Smlikely to have the same amount of time and

training staff. Nonetheless, as our researchhuge incentive for all local shops to make aselling alcohol to underage people both members at risk of fines and prosecution, ah b

Underage drinking


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whose staff sell alcohol to children can receive5,000, while those who are persistently caugunderage people can face a fine of up to 20,0their licence.24 The loss of a licence can make for smaller shops, and can bring heavy losses corporate reputation for larger retailers.

The individuals working on the till can aa fine. In serious circumstances, they can evenand prosecuted, although this occurs rarely anapply to repeat offenders. Most commonly, incaution or a fixed penalty notice. There is also

amount of cultural shame and opprobrium dithose who sold young people alcohol or failed

Some of the retailers we interviewed feltwere turned into criminals over night for failOne worker described it in the following way

You can have something on your mind, like I did, and slip of that customer. And thats it Ill tell you what,

They also pointed out that sometimes th

purchases are young staff on the minimum wacareer might be ruined if they are given a crimextreme example, a shop worker we interviewsuicide, saying she had never been so ashame

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the punishments for underage sales were dthe seller rather than the purchaser. While 2003 makes it an offence to purchase, or atalcohol underage, data released by the Minthat in 2012 only two cases of underage puappeared before a magistrates court. In adMarch 2012 and March 2013 only 17 penaltwere issued for the offence, for on-trade anProxy purchasing is also an offence punishnotice, though over the same period only 1compared with 1,304 issued to retailers for

underage person.25

Challenging and policing proxy sale

difficult for retailers

The most difficult issue relating to underaglocal shop keepers was identifying and clampurchasing. Some of the larger stores whosincluded guidance on proxy sales in staff trstore had hired a test-purchasing companypurpose, where an underage person wouldalcohol within earshot of checkout staff. Smstores without the same capacity were confactions such as checking security camera

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Underage drinking


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that it is not illegal for parents to supply alcohin the home. Under stress from this particularcashier had the misfortune of selling to a test-immediately afterwards, and none of the abovmitigating circumstances.

Another problem is that proxy purchaseadamantly that they are buying the alcohol fothen becomes very difficult for a cashier to caand refuse the sale. These examples demonstrasking retailers to assume most of the burdenpurchasing.

As mentioned above and later in the reclocal authorities need to focus on communicaother adults the harms and increased risk thatif they consume alcohol underage. Portsmoutauthority to introduce a scheme called Proxy

24-hour hotline for members of the public anreport incidences of proxy purchasing. An imcampaign is raising awareness, and retailers wto the scheme are given posters and t-shirts. Ainitiative, the test purchase failure rate for alchas fallen from 33 per cent to 2.5 per cent oveyears.26

In addition to these kinds of campaignsfacing adults for proxy purchasing should be d d l h h

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Table 1 Punishments for proxy purchasing in t

the US, and Washington DC

Minimum penalty M

UK 90 fine

US (California) $1,000 fine and 24 hours $community service 1

bwsd

US (Pennsylvania) Between $1,000 and $$2,500 fine, up to 1 year imimprisonment

US (Texas) Up to $4,000 fine, up to $1 year imprisonment im

If offence committed whereminors engaged in bingedrinking, 2040 hourscommunity service, analcohol awarenessprogramme, and 180 daysdriving licence suspension(NB It is legal for a minors

parent or guardian topurchase alcohol for themin Texas)

US (Washington DC) Up to $1000 fine or up to $


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Binge drinking and the night-time eco


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has now been dropped following concerns it wunworkable. Across the city there are 16 desigplace orders.

The most effective ways of tackling bi

and the harms associated with the nigeconomy

As argued in chapter 1, the Government and padvocates argue that cheap, strong and easily are driving the so-called binge drinking cultu

Government also blames preloading, wherebypeople tend to drink at home before going ouclubs. As a result, many are already drunk by out, and are thus may be more likely to drink overall in the course of an evening.

The main reason for preloading among said to be the cost of alcohol, which is significpubs and clubs than it is in off-licences and suHowever, the evidence around the impact of pdrinking is inconclusive as a number of additfactors have to be taken into account. These iculture that considers drunken exploits as a band the rise of social media allowing for the pwild, carefree and partying image. Moreover, d k h f

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Why let good times go bad?30 The psychodrinking, for many people, is the desire to Many can recognise that there is a certain lexcessive drinking turns into regretful behpace drinking through alternating drinks arounds can help to prevent some people fro

the point of excess. Public health authoritiworking with Pubwatch on campaigns suchencourage drinkers to switch between alcoalcoholic drinks.

Drunk buses and street interventions

Drunk buses and other methods of on-the-also become popular. For example, in Blacsignificant local support for a Safe Haven

respite service for late-night clubbers. Thisinvolving St Johns Ambulance Service, NHthe Drug and Alcohol Service, as well as lothose who are picked up by drunk buses dothe service, and are not subject to fines. Depast that requiring individuals who have toto excessive alcohol consumption should hThis would not only help pay for the servicindividuals to assume greater responsibility



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Another example of a successful local pafor the on-trade is Best Bar None, a local accrwhere pubs, bars and clubs are judged accordas having crime reduction measures in place, drinking, and having CCTV coverage. The sccoordinated by various partners including the

authorities and NHS. The Government quotethe success of the scheme in Doncaster and Dparticular. In Doncaster, violent crime has redcentre by 49.1 per cent since the introduction 2006. In Durham, violent crimes against the p

per cent between 2006/07 and 2012.32

Are cumulative impact zones effective?

As noted above, there have been efforts in Bla

Manchester to restrict the availability of alcohlimiting the number of premises licensed to setime over which it can be sold. In Blackpool,cumulative impact zones in place for on-tradecity centre, and for off-trade premises in four requested that an early morning restriction orto cover 14 streets with high levels of crime, sowill be unable to sell alcohol after 3am. Anothdesignated public place order in effect in sinc

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been effective as one tool in a package of mto a reduction in crime rates and hospital athe towns night-time economy.

Cumulative impact policies can also athough take-up of the measure has been limguidance under the Licensing Act 2003 sta

normally not be justifiable to adopt a cumuin the case of the off-trade, but as part of thStrategy the Government made clear that toff-trade as well. Blackpool was apparentlyauthority to enact a cumulative impact pol

exclusively to the off-trade and it was introorder to tackle violent crime and domestic is no robust evidence of its effectiveness to

The role of local shops in preventingtime economy

Our research suggests that local shops are in preventing binge drinking and the harmeconomy. But we also argue that, with suppbe doing more.

The first point to consider is whetherof local shops is linked with the harms assodrinking. While some academic research hah l h h l d h d



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generate more demand for alcohol, or whetheoff-licences to meet demand that already exist

Alcohol Concern has also tried to draw off-licence density and alcohol harms directly2011 report entitled One on every corner thaall alcohol-specific hospital admissions for un

(excluding London) are directly attributable density. But the report admitted that its methestablish a correlation.35

It is clear that more research needs to beregarding off-licences and alcohol-related har

official we spoke to in Blackpool said that alththat the off-licence cumulative impact policy wpositive effect, it is difficult to quantify this girelated harms go on behind closed doors.

It is also clearly difficult to estimate the

cumulative impact policy for off-licences in rerelated harm when treated in isolation. ReseaUniversity found that deprivation is a greateralcohol disruption in residential neighbourhopresence of off-trade premises. This shows hoare often involved.

Moreover, we heard from local stakeholthat in many areas an off-licence was better than empty shop. Indeed, if there were no demal h h ld f h

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It is unclear how local shops can tackle a cul

the point of sale

Local shops are sometimes blamed for fuelon-trade by selling alcohol to people who pbefore they go out. It is unclear how local people from doing this while maintaining awould be unfair, and certainly unrealistic, t

stop selling to people who they suspect wilMost of the shop keepers we interview

on alcohol, which may have the unintendedencouraging preloading. However, the cheavailable not in local shops, but in superm

recently stores have been able to sell at beldiscussed in chapter 2, the Government copromotions altogether in the off-trade, butbecause of a lack of evidence on its effectiv

One Co-op store spokesperson we sp

store did put in place a policy to limit the apurchased during promotional offers. But,recommendations, there need to be other instop young people drinking to excess befotime economy if this is a concern for a partexample, we argue below that in areas withalcohol-fuelled violence and crime, local auconsider banning individuals who are verydrunk from entering city centres. This has



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Retailers need support to deal with violent and

behaviour

The argument that off-licences fuel trouble fosuggests that off-licences themselves have an eaccounts from our fieldwork and interviews bviolence and abuse that some local shop workfrequently even daily because of alcohol.

shops would be highly motivated to assist in ethe harms of binge drinking and the night-tim

In Blackpool, we interviewed one membbeen punched by a drunk person in the shop;violent incident with a brick; and one membe

hospitalised by confronting someone over a thseveral retailers we interviewed have to deal wthreatening youths. Smaller, isolated retailerswell-established links with police, can sometimvulnerable. Larger retailers often have securit

as a deterrent, but many unaffiliated indepenare on their own and sometimes there is onlsmaller stores. Several managers of larger storsadness that most of their staff expected to recabuse relating to alcohol as just part of the jobwho had been punched said: You just deal w

The same difficulties can be experiencedserve people who are drunk. The Licensing Athe sale of alcohol to somebody who is drunk


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4 Street drinkers dependent drin

Hes pretty much an alcoholic until we can get himthing we can do is throw him to the wolves, and thastaff would want to do.

The third issue we explore is dependeparticular street drinking. The results of thfrom August show that, in general, most loreport problems with dependent drinkers (have never experienced a problem), or str

cent say never).37

But there are significandependent drinkers in some areas of the Udeprived areas including so-called streettypically used for homeless people with alc

Historically, homeless street drinkers gravitated towards high-strength, low-cost cheap sherry, and are now commonly thourange of white ciders. The Government andauthorities argue that the easy availability o

d d k dd

Street drinkers and dependent drink


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alcohol as the buyers human right, and one power to restrict or comment on.

Issues relating to street drinking and dedrinking were analysed primarily in our Blackcase studies.

Ipswich is the 72nd most deprived local

294, and nine of the towns areas are in the todeprived areas nationally. In 2009, 23.1 per cepopulation of Suffolk as a whole was classed ahigher risk drinkers.38 The high number of stIpswich led to the campaign Reducing the Str

discussed below and in the next chapter. Ipswhigh homeless population: 0.75 households phomeless, exceeding the national average of 0exceeding the South East average of 0.37.39 Rdrinking with homelessness, and it is likely a v

portion of Ipswichs street drinking communiBlackpool also has more dependent drinIt has both the highest number of months of lto alcohol in the UK and the highest rate of mchronic liver disease. It has high levels of alco45,700 people in Blackpool have an alcohol ucent above the national average, and betweenresidents are classified as dependent drinkers.often attribute this to local deprivation, and d

l l d d d d

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availability of alcohol would only scratch tproblem, and could have negative unintendrepresentative from Addaction spoke to usproviding dependent drinkers with opportmeaningful activities alongside conventiontreatments.

In its response to the Governments a2011, St Mungos stated that over 44 per cedependent drinkers, whose most common which contains 22.5 units of alcohol in a th

While St Mungos supported a minimum u

pointed out the limitations to a price-based

We do not believe that a minimum price would stopalcohol from drinking, but do believe it would encouamount of strong alcohol that they drink or switch treducing the harm caused.42

In the absence of a minimum unit priremoving problem drinks from their shopcommended for their initiative. However, tthat such approaches are not a magic bullearound dependent and street drinking. Remor making them more expensive may just lswitching to a different product, having lit



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super-strength products. For example, the cathe Strength is a joint initiative, led by Suffolkinvolving councillors and the East of EnglandSociety, to tackle Ipswichs problem with streethirds of the towns shops have voluntarily remcheap high-strength lagers and ciders. The ini

a reduction in street drinker events of arounThese are instances reported by the public obehaviour, shouting and swearing, or urinatin

Indeed, the local stakeholders we spokescourge of street drinking was primarily drive

cheap, high-strength products available in offfollowing quotation is indicative:

I cant understand why anyone would drink cheap supother than to become blotto. It wouldnt be for the tasteoff their brains. Thats why its dangerous.

Several of the smaller independent retaiinterviewed also made an explicit link betweeproblematic customers. In some instances thestopped selling those products altogether. In

placed their own premium on the price of thoattempt to reduce demand.

In some areas, product bans will be coml l k l h d h h l

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which is that there is no clear national mesin how to deal with excessive alcohol consuunderage drinking. The Blackpool retailer cheap alcohol to dependent drinkers was ntheir addiction; indeed this individual was counsellor outside working hours.

We came across other examples of retright thing by excessive drinkers. One retashop was trying to wean one of his customealcohol. He argued that if he stopped sellinthe customer would simply go elsewhere, a

sending him to the wolves. There is therefthe right thing to do in these types of circmuch down to the individual seller.

These issues highlight the shortcominMoreover, the success of the Ipswich initia

coordinated product bans were supplemenand intensive action to get street drinkers tdesigning suitable interventions can itself pdifficult. One stakeholder in Ipswich said tdrinkers persuaded into rehab in the last yePart of the problem was that the street drin

become like a family, and going to see old relapse. Outreach workers trying to help ddrinkers face the challenge that alcohol ma

h l l h



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on what grounds do they refuse the sale? Moreported issues with dependent drinkers belieindividuals have the right to buy alcohol so lodrunk at the point of sale. In some instances, even trump the protests of family members wask that their relative not be served. At the ve

absence of guidance or instruction from authokeepers have little reason to refuse sales.

Similarly, there is confusion around the promoting public health campaigns. Some stathat the point of sale is potentially an importa

intervene in order to promote sensible drinkifound that some of the larger retailers from ththrough funding Drinkaware campaigns, andand digital displays to display messages, whileconsidering putting ABV content on shelves.

independent retailers often have less of a rolethey lack resources or have a different relationcustomers. A representative from Drinkawarethe need to sell the benefits to all retailers of ptheir work.

Many retailers also spoke to us of their r

community in which they serve, and said this strong motivation to making a profit. This senamong retailers tends to be more common in

h ll l l h k

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5 Partnerships: loas part of the so

Across the country, local strategic partnersstandard practice to tackle a huge variety osome local areas, partnership working has effective, and these areas often serve as bes

others. Partnership working has also been tackling alcohol-related harms particularpublic order and will become increasingllution of responsibility to local health and

One of our research aims was to lookeffective partnerships that include local shotackling alcohol-related harms. This chapterelationships that exist between retailers aninvolved in tackling alcohol misuse: policeofficers, local council licensing authorities work authorities. We wanted to identify th

partnerships, how they operate and what mWe were also interested in the extent to whindependent shops are involved.

Partnerships: local shops as part of the s


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police, trading standards offices and other boretailers to enforce the law and find ways to aof underage drinking. As mentioned above, inat a voluntary partnership campaign known aStrength. The police and the East of EnglandSociety led this scheme, with the aim of target

street drinkers by restricting sales of certain hcost products.

Overall, our research suggests that althoexcellent examples of effective local partnershbe done to involve retailers in these partnersh

information-gathering and decision-making. Acommunication gap, those implementing polilocally risk missing opportunities to limit andharms, and anecdotal evidence suggests that las the cause of the problem rather than part o

The involvement of local shops in stra

alcohol harms

In its Voice of Local Shops of August 2013 theindependent shop owners whether they were

local authorities, working with the local policfor how they will tackle alcohol-related harms(figure 1).44 The survey was of both symbol g

d d l b d b h l

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Figure 1 The statements that best describe

awareness of the local authoritys salcohol-related harm in their area

Source: Voice of Local Shops survey45

Indies

0

5

10

15

20

25

35

30

P

ercentage

Total Symbols

Awarean

dha

veatten

ded

mee

tings

abo

utalcoh

olissues

Awarean

dso

meo

nehasb

een

tomystoreto

tellm

eab

outit

Awarean

dreceived

let

ters

oremails

abo

utit

Awareof

the

irwork

but

never

bee

nco

ntact

N



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Figure 2 The difference between unaffiliated in

symbol group shops in Wales

Source: Voice of Local Shops survey46

0

5

10

15

20

25

35

40

30

Percentage

Awarean

dha

veatten

ded

mee

tings

abo

utalcoho

lissue

s

Awarean

dso

meo

nehas

bee

n

tomystoreto

tellm

eabo

utit

Awarean

dreceiv

edletters

oremailsa

bout

it

Awareof

their

workbu

t

never

bee

ncon

tacted

NOT

a

wo

Indies Symbols

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The survey also revealed significant r

often stretched across symbol group shopsindependents. The least likely groups to hawere independent shop keepers in the Eastkeepers in West Midlands (2 per cent) andand unaffiliated independents in the South

Those most likely to have attended a meetiin Wales (21 per cent), and those from symScotland (18 per cent) and the North East

Police and retailersIn our qualitative research we asked retailewith local police, local authorities, public htrading standards offices, and any other borecognised and trusted agency was the polikeepers said they are not really involved wivery common answer was we dont bother bother us.

In general, most local shop keepers wgood relationship with police and communIf you have a good working relationship w

you who [trouble-making] people are, saidfinding is backed up by the ACS national sShops, the results of which are presented inh h h h d f h


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of the smaller independent retailers, who th

trying to keep their heads below the parap

Trading standards offices and retail

Trading standards offices are the second ke

with retailers, after the police. Our researchshop keepers are fearful of trading standarbecause they only engage with trading stanpunitive settings. Our case study and phonkeepers showed that most shops have very

trading standards offices other than being purchasing, which in some cases has been sbudgetary reasons.

We heard that licences are not reviewinstead when there is a serious misdemeanooffences of selling to underage young peoplarger retailers and symbol group independinvolved with trading standards offices thrtraining sessions and workshops.

Trading standards offices are perceivekeepers especially those in smaller indep

strictly enforcement agencies, and shop keeup the phone to ask for advice. Changing tagencies is a key objective of community al

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This retailer thought hard about the sto

responsibility towards its clients, and the effecintervention it could make. Generally speakinsentative from the store believes that alcohol mproblem not a retailer problem. Education is societal attitudes, but retailers are wary of app

customers and driving them away.This retailer concluded that the stores m

contribution is through making lots of little inas putting an alcohol-free option next to alcohoffering alternatives (such as products of diffe

content) when there is a promotion of alcohoare also considering giving the ABV content oalcoholic products.

The company has signed up to the GoveResponsibility Deal with industry, which seekto tackle health issues like alcohol abuse and the schemes lack of enforceability has been crepresentatives from health organisations, whparticipate. These include Alcohol Concern, t

Association for the Study of the Liver, the BriBritish Medical Association, the Institute of A

the Royal College of Physicians.In general, larger retailers are more likel

independents to participate in public health cd d h d f h

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of suspicion among smaller shops fearful o

ability to undercut them or sell below cost of business.

There are examples of effective partnretailer interviews, particularly in smaller crange from joint marketing initiatives Fa

encouraging local residents to shop in theirexample which may involve informal infosometimes petitioning of local authorities, networked connections such as radio links

Formal partnerships

Formal partnerships, such as community aare designed to change informal relationshcreate relationships where they did not prelocal authorities now have a local partnershalcohol-related harm, but, as we noted abothe ACS survey, a substantial minority of loper cent are completely unaware of local partnerships. Of those who are aware, onlyproportion one in ten has attended me

What leads to successful partnershi

h h h h d

i d i f h h l d d i



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introduction of the scheme, total recorded cri

cent between 2008 and 2009, in comparison wper cent fall in crime in the two other areas inKCAP Canterbury City Centre and Westwo

The scheme was led primarily by tradingand the police, but it had good support from

shops in Edenbridge did not have an ID policcommunity alcohol partnership was set up, bustrict policies to deal with underage drinking,prompts and staff training.

Stakeholders attribute the success of the

alcohol partnership in Edenbridge to it beingcommunity in a clearly defined, discrete area, provision of diversionary youth activities. Thepreviously reported youths causing problems hosted activities such as painting and badminemployment minibus was also provided. Onecommented: I think theres a very clear link band input of youth work, and the alcohol-relaexperience in Edenbridge. Other benefits incclear problem crowds from outside a store.

Reducing the Strength Ipswich

Another example of a successful partnership i

Th l b f d

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There was a large number of street dr

police received a lot of complaints from loccustomers were put off by what they perceibehaviour and begging. The council initiallvarious ways, for example, by removing benstreet drinking community from outside M

knew they had to engage with these drinkerThe street drinking community itself was thable after a number of murders took place i

One of the key aims of the scheme waindividuals consuming these products, and

staff training. Estimates of the number of ddrinkers in Ipswich vary, but stakeholders been significantly reduced thanks to the scpersuaded to go into rehab. Retailers reporassaults on staff and thefts. For example, infollowing the launch of the campaign (Sep2013), 94 street drinker events were reporcompared with 191 that occurred between SMarch 2012 a drop of 49.2 per cent. FromFebruary 2013, crime was down 14 per centnumber of local business representatives st

high level of street drinking on their premilower than before the start of the initiative.

It is important to note that some claimd ff f l l


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retailers could benefit from guidance in know



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retailers could benefit from guidance in know

to refuse alcohol sales, particularly to difficultretailer, for example, reported a non-confronreadiness to serve people whom staff think witrouble, even if they are drunk.

We should also beware thinking that an

works in one place can be easily replicated elsup. A representative from one large retail chaistores in Nottingham would not participate inReducing the Strength scheme because staff fcolluding with other retailers to restrict the sa

could infringe competition law. This retailer hdecided to trial a ban of very similar super-strnumber of its own stores.

In general, there is a significant discrepacapacity of large chain stores, and small indeptackle alcohol-related ills. For example the Eaoperative Society is launching a Freedom fromfor staff, who are given cards to hand to custoat refusal. The cards have contact details desigsting out of rejection and to shift responsibiliproblem away from the shop worker. Its store

staffed, and fitted with panic buttons and linkoperated control centre with audio in store, socall in central help to deal with problems rem

h b d h

become involved without losing business m

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become involved without losing business m

for a comprehensive partnership scheme. Ihowever, that we came across examples of retailers who were highly proactive in engapartnerships and the local community. Andconsiderable resource constraints for unaff

shops, it does not follow that large retailersstores are inevitably good, while unaffiliateinevitably bad. In fact, there are more and responsible retailers within all shop types.

In the rare instances where retailers b

deemed irresponsible, relations between shmay need to become more enforcement baregular visits from the police or communityarrangements are best determined locally, acould be wasteful and potentially counterpaddition, the extent and nature of alcohol-racross the country, requiring different and


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6 Recommendati

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The aim of our research has been to show tshops play in combating alcohol harms in communities. Below we offer recommendacan be strengthened. As we highlighted in

are a number of reasons why local shops anare currently under the spotlight. Changinconsumption are leading to a larger percenpurchased in off-licence shops and consumpresents a number of regulatory challengesaspects of excessive alcohol consumption.

Since the Coalition Government faileminimum unit price for the sale of alcohol,alternative approaches to demonstrate thatalcohol harms. Pressure is being placed onretailers to take voluntary actions on the pr

thought to cause the most damage. Respondecisions about how to approach alcohol hprimarily with local authorities and other lh i h h i h h

binge drinking brings more grey areas and qu

Recommendations


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g g g g y q

shops restrict lines of cheap, high-strength alcis too drunk when it comes to refusing a sale?local shops have public health responsibilities

Shopkeepers have a limited but nonetmoment of contact with purchasers of alcohol

important to recognise the things retailers andkeepers already do. Shops are already requirenumber of as part of being a licensed seller ofmany shops go above and beyond their statutboth formally (with better training of staff an

informally (looking out for regular customersdependent drinkers).Larger stores have the capacity to have m

staff training on underage sales and dealing wstores also have corporate social responsibilityand so are more likely to be deal directly with

agencies. In contrast, resource constraints canchallenge for smaller independents. This is ceeverywhere, there are some exceptional standshops, but building the capacity of smaller inremain a priority.

Addressing the demand-side of alcohol cto tackling alcohol-related harms. Given the ecomplexity of the problem of alcohol misuse, b ll d l l b h l

consumption. We argue that there needs to

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p g

how retailers can be responsible.Our recommendations are listed belo

General

Local authorities and health and wellbeing blocal shops are at the heart of strategic partn

alcohol harms

As we saw from the Voice of Local Shops sall local shops are either unaware of local s

alcohol harms, or have not been contactedabout them. Moreover, only 1 in 10 has attealcohol-related issues and 1 in 4 shops havetheir shop to discuss alcohol-related issuesneed to prioritise engagement with small inparticular. Plus, our survey shows that som

better than others; these findings should acpoor performing regions to improve their e

Police and trading standards officers should

establish contact and good relations with sh

independents

Most interactions between shops and theseresponse to enforcement issues As a result

commitment to partnership. Part of the work

Recommendations


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p p

the benefits of schemes to shop owners. All evresearch points to the fact that actions on alcocan be good not only for the community but and this message needs to be communicated. heard, shop keepers are often on the frontline

aggressive behaviour from intoxicated customsupport to shops in this regard such as free the provision of panic buttons as part of theparticipating in a partnership scheme could hattitudes and inspire greater commitment on

keepers. With police budgets already stretcheactivities could be recouped from the introdulevies, or could be provided by the larger bransupermarkets as their contribution to supportindependent businesses on diverse high street

We also specify that there need to be cle

to the burdens that can be placed on retailers example, there may be significant constraints some smaller independent retailers to go alonshould be recognised, for example, by scheduinfrequently (once a year, as in the case of com

partnerships), giving enough notice for shop arrangements to attend them, making special keepers who cannot attend them, and providi

l f h h

the higher the risk of them developing drin

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in life.Local authorities need to focus on co

dangers of underage drinking and particuldrinking. This should include awareness careducing proxy purchasing by making it cl

This awareness raising could be accopersuasion and targeted information campschools, places of employment and GP surcampaigns need to emphasise the health haunderage drinking, and the increased likeliwill develop alcohol problems later in life. see the harm in allowing their underage chthis myth needs to be robustly countered. Talso aim to support parents in a tough appthemselves are drinking excessive amountsother research suggests that some parents w

adopt a liberal approach to their children dfeel guilty about their own drinking behav

Local shops should use social sanctions and

customers that proxy purchasers will be banface the threat of prosecution

While it is important to raise the stakes for

Adults caught proxy purchasing should be subj

related community sentence

Recommendations


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Unless they witness money exchange in front youths harassing customers, it is difficult for sdetermine whether a proxy purchase is takingauthorities need to shift the burden onto the pwho are making the purchase. We recommend

proxy purchasing are subject to a communitycurrent minimum of 40 hours unpaid work. Talcohol-related, and could include participatinservices during peak hours of the night-time etown centre drunk bus, or street support servibottles and litter the following morning. Therprovision for proxy purchasers to work with aattend a course on alcohol harms. This needs better enforcement of the current penalties, asthat proxy purchasers are rarely being punish

Police and local authorities should clamp down

drinking in public places and ensure the provisi

activities for young people

In addition to changing the law around unde

homes, police and local authorities should gepolicing public places such as parks and carunderage drinkers congregate. However, such

Tackling binge drinking and the nig

Police and local authorities should provide lo

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guidance on refusing sales to intoxicated cussupport when required

The decision of whether or not to serve a dmore difficult than refusing sale of alcohol consequences for other customers and the

sale, who might feel threatened by aggressiconsuming behaviour, and do not have thepubs and clubs to deal with these issues. Wlarger retailers and independents with suppgroup have taken extra steps to deal with thbetter staffing, the introduction of a panic provision of a card that helps take responsifrom the person on the till. Another modelprovides a link to police over a tannoy systmonitoring via a camera in the shop. This acommunicate directly with unruly custome

police will be on the way. Local authoritieshelp spread these practices, particularly to shops with less capacity.

Individuals responsible for causing trouble ineconomy should either pay a substantial ind

policing and NHS costs, or commit to comm

reduce consumption. The principle of getting

Recommendations


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more and using independently operated drunpolice time was controversially raised by the APolice Officers and Chief Constable Adrian Lprinciple is compelling, there are legal considforcing someone to remain in the care of a dr

are not under arrest.In general, though, individuals should btowards the costs of public services that they rirresponsible drinking. If an individual cannoindividual levy then they could be involved incommunity service specifically related to the neconomy, for example handing out leaflets ouSaturday nights to promote responsible drinksame way that promoters do now. Individualsvisible, and easily identifiable to enforce a senshaming. A less punitive alternative could be

outreach services to help vulnerable drunk petime economy, such as being part of a drunk b

Police should refuse to allow very drunk individ

centres in areas with high levels of alcohol-relatThe culture of preloading among young peopout is driven primarily by cost and the desire

temporarily banned from the city centre th

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notice. Police officers found there appearedthe initiative and a significant reduction in

We would stress, however, that such aonly be considered in areas of very high levassociated with the night-time economy, an

would need to be monitored to ensure thatcitizens are not unduly targeted by police. benefits would need to be weighed and conby local authorities. Nonetheless, the mere bolstered by some initial enforcement con alcohol harms.

Tackling dependent drinkers

Local schemes should be developed that ma

substance misuse workers and other support

local shops and provide guidance about how

with dependent drinkers

Our research found very little interaction band local charities that work to support de

While it is likely that, in some instances, su

workers talk to local shop owners about paalcohol problems, there appears to be veryshops and retailers overall. Thus, where ap

Local authorities and retailers should work toge

partnerships that take comprehensive approach

Recommendations


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tackle street drinkingThe Ipswich initiative, which is based on effecbetween retailers and local agencies, is an intewhich could be replicated in other communitsignificant problems. The strength of Ipswich

comprehensive approach achieving a significaeffective intervention against the individuals edrinking: the ban of certain products was comtargeted intervention and support for those incausing problems with their street drinking. Sfocus solely on seeking voluntary agreement ocertain products are unlikely to be effective. Tgenerally requires further and fuller examinatremain and have to be resolved, as do concerndisplacement of street drinkers and non-particlocal shops.

Notes

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1 Home Office, The Governments Alcohol Strathttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/attachment_data/file/224075/alcohol-stratNov 2013).

2 ACS, Voice of Local Shops survey, no 7, Aof Convenience Stores, www.acs.org.uk/enlocal-shops-survey/ (accessed 18 Nov 2013)unpublished.

3 J Birdwell, E Vandore and B Hahn,Feeling Demos, 2012; J Bartlett and M Grist, Underknow about binge drinking, London: Demos,

4 A symbol group retailer is an independent

member of a larger organisation known as IGD, Symbol groups market overview, Distribution, 9 Aug 2012, www.igd.com/ou

8 ONS, General Lifestyle Survey, 2011, Office for N

Notes


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2013, www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ghs/general-lifsurvey/2011/index.html (accessed 18 Nov 2013

9 E Fuller (ed), Smoking and drinking and drupeople in England in 2010, National Statistic

Information Centre, 2011, https://catalogue.icpublications/public-health/surveys/smok-drineng-2010/smok-drin-drug-youn-peop-eng-201(accessed 9 Oct 2013).

10 Local Alcohol Profiles for England, 2012, wwwdata.html (accessed 18 Nov 2013).

11 House of Commons Health Committee, GoveStrategy: Third Report of Session 201213, HHouse of Commons, 2012, www.publications.

pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmhealth/132/132.pdf 2013).

12 Home Office, The Governments Alcohol Strategy

13 R Griffith, A Leicester and M OConnell, Prito reduce alcohol consumption, IFS BriefingInstitute for Fiscal Studies, 2013, www.ifs.org( d 8 N )

18 Home Office, Guidance: persistently sellin

d d f ll d

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revised guidance following amendments inPolice Reform and Social Responsibility Ahttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/attachment_data/file/98110/selling-alcoho(accessed 13 Nov 2013).

19 E Fuller (ed), Smoking, Drinking and Drug Uin England in 2012, National Statistics and HCare Information Centre, 2013, https://catpublications/public-health/surveys/smok-deng-2012/smok-drin-drug-youn-peop-eng-2(accessed 18 Nov 2013).

20 Serve Legal is a private company hired by oretailers, and unfortunately there are no relstatutory test-purchasing to compare pass r

21 Bartlett and Grist, Under the Influence.

22 HW Perkins and D Craig, A successful socto reduce alcohol misuse among college stu

Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Nov 2006, wwwpdf/JSA-Perkins-Craig-Nov-06[1].pdf (acceAlcohol Education Trust, The Toilet Timeh // l h l d i /P /i

24 Gloucestershire County Council, Underage s

d i h di d d

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advice sheet, 2013, www.tradingstandards.govbin/glos/bus1item.cgi?file=*BADV686-1011.tx2013).

25 Figures from the Ministry of Justice. Magistra

747-13 FOI 85726, 23 Oct 2013, PND: numberfor disorder issued to offenders aged 16 and omonths ending March 2005 to 12 months endhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/sysattachment_data/file/231046/out-court-dispo(accessed 19 Nov 2013).

26 K Winstanley, Retail of Alcohol Standards Grpaper on proxy purchase, RASG/10/13, Oct 2

27 Blackpool Borough Council,Blackpool Commu

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53 Ibid.

54 See https://www.disc-net.org/brighton/ (a

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Birdwell, J., Wybron, I. & Vandore, E. (2013). Sobering up. Demos, London