Friday 24th November 2006

'Early Days" For Licensing Act 2003 Warns Institute of Alcohol Studies

The Licensing Act 2003, came into force one year ago today. A much contested and controversial legislation, the Act transferred responsibilities for licensing from the Magistrates Court to Local Authorities, in order to allow, in principle, a more comprehensive, localised approach to the issues of licensing and night time economy management.

The rationale underpinning the Government’s decision to liberalise the licensing regime, is two fold: firstly extending opening hours of licensed premises should help alleviate the problem of binge drinking as people will no longer be obliged to drink to ‘beat the clock’; further a system of staggered closing times should allow a more gradual dispersal of late night revellers, easing pressure on police resources in town and city centre hotspots during peak times.

Secondly, the move towards liberalisation is inscribed within the discourse of the ‘urban renaissance’: indeed, it is hoped that it will result in a diversification of our present ‘monocultural’ night time economy primarily geared towards the 18-24 year old population, and based upon the consumption of alcohol thus allowing the emergence of a ‘continental café culture’.

The decision to extend closing times went ahead despite all the international scientific evidence put forward to the Government, and against the warnings of police officials, judges, medical professionals and experts in the alcohol field. In this sense, we feel the implementation of the Act represents a ‘missed opportunity’ on the part of the Government to truly make a dent in the growing toll of alcohol related harm, by the adoption of effective, and evidence based alcohol policies.

Today, the Institute of Alcohol Studies suggests that it is still too early to assess the true effect of the Act; indeed, the impact is likely to be cumulative, and measured over a number of years, rather than months. Further, several factors should be borne in mind when attempting to draw conclusions:

A Year of Transition: The last twelve months have seen the implementation of two high profile ‘Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaigns’, costing £2.5 million each, and involving all the Police Forces in the country. Both were carried out during the pivotal times leading up to Christmas and the Football World Cup. Combined, these events represent exceptional circumstances that are likely to skew measures of crime and disorder.

A Diverse and Wide Ranging Impact: Evidence regarding the efficiency of the act remains largely anecdotal, and does therefore not provide a national picture of the situation so far. The Act is anticipated to have a varying effect from area to area, as some larger cities already have a system of staggered closing times in place. Further, reports of ‘nothing changing’ do not vindicate the Act as a success, as its’ clear mandate is to reduce the incidence binge drinking and crime and disorder.

Government Evaluation of the Act: Close attention needs to be paid to the Government evaluation of the Act. Given the complications in predicting the ramifications of the Act, it is essential to incorporate not only an objective, quantifiable measure of alcohol related crime and disorder, but it is also vital to evaluate the incidence of low level disorder and public nuisance, which are often the key factors deterring people from using town and city centres at night.

Andrew Mc Neill, Director of the Institute of Alcohol Studies said: ‘If the Government is truly committed to tackling alcohol related harm, it needs to adopt an integrated approach and implement viable, evidence based policies based on the regulation of the availability of alcohol. The well being of citizens needs to be placed above the vested interests of the alcohol industry.’

ENDS

For all enquiries, please contact Emilie Rapley,
Research & Public Affairs Officer:
ejrapley@ias.org.uk
Tel: 0207 222 4001.

Notes to Editors

The Institute of Alcohol Studies is an independent organisation with the broad aim of increasing awareness of alcohol related issues in society. The Institute of Alcohol Studies advocates the prevention of alcohol related harm through effective evidence based alcohol policy http://www.ias.org.uk