Memorandum by the Home Office (AL 74)
SOCIAL COSTS
OF ALCOHOL
MISUSE
The Home Office estimates that the social cost
of alcohol related crime and disorder in 2007-08 was between
£8 billion and £13 billion.[94]
This estimate takes into account the costs in anticipation of
crime, the direct physical and emotional costs to victims, the
value of lost output, and the costs to the health service and
Criminal Justice System. It is estimated on the basis of attributable
fractions calculated from the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey.
However, this estimate is likely to be an underestimate,
as we do not know what proportion of the £3.4 billion
cost of anti-social behaviour[95]
is alcohol-related. This estimate also excludes any social costs
associated with the fear of crime.
HOME OFFICE
STRATEGIES
In June 2007, the Home Office, along with the
Department of Health, the Department for Education and Skills
and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, published Safe.
Sensible. Social. The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy.
In the strategy, we identified three priority groups for action:
young people under 18 who drink alcohol, 18-24 year
old binge drinkers, and harmful drinkers. The strategy set out
a number of key actions which have since been implemented, including
rolling out local alcohol strategies, conducting an independent
review of how alcohol is sold and promoted, piloting Alcohol Arrest
Referral schemes and launching the award-winning "Know Your
Limits" campaign.
In June 2008, the Department for Children, Schools
and Families, the Home Office and the Department of Health published
the Youth Alcohol Action Plan (YAAP). This set out measures to
address drinking by young people, including working with the police
and courts to tackle drinking in public, providing clear information
for parents and young people, and working with the industry to
tackle underage sales and to promote the responsible sale of alcohol.
ENFORCEMENT OF
EXISTING LEGISLATION
We share concerns about the effective enforcement
of existing legislation and have a programme of work in place
to address this. Last year we trained over 1,300 front-line
practitioners in the full range of alcohol related tools and powers
available to them and we have recently begun a series of 40 workshops
to train a further 2,000 to 2,500 practitioners in our
priority areas. Earlier this year we spent £1.5 million
on targeted enforcement campaigns in the 40 to 50 areas
of most concern to us, that is those areas with high levels of
alcohol related crime and high public perceptions of drunk or
rowdy behaviour, and we have also spent a further £3 million
supporting local alcohol related partnership activity.
In relation to the offence of selling alcohol
to someone who is intoxicated, enforcing this legislation is particularly
difficult as it requires the police to be present when the sale
is made. Large-scale enforcement would therefore be extremely
expensive and is impractical. Instead, we believe that it is more
effective to focus on training those serving alcohol to spot and
deal with those who are intoxicated and we are working closely
with the industry through schemes such as Pubwatch and Best Bar
None to achieve this. We are also considering the issue of training
in our public consultation on the new code of practice for alcohol
retailers.
July 2009
94 Impact Assessment of a Code of Practice for the
Alcohol Industry, Home Office. Back
95
One day count of anti-social behaviour, Home Office. Back
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