Downing Street summit on binge drinking

Brown threatens alcohol industry: take action now or we legislate

In November, the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the Culture Secretary hosted a seminar at 10 Downing Street to tackle the problems of under-age drinking and binge-drinking. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who had previously been reported as indicating that the new 24-hour Licensing Act might be amended, invited a selected group of drinks manufacturers and retailers, doctors and academics to Downing Street as the Government unveiled its latest plans to crack down on excessive consumption of alcohol.

The seminar was billed in advance as an occasion when the Prime Minister would tell the alcohol industry, and the supermarket chiefs in particular, what was expected of them in relation to the campaign against alcohol harm. After the seminar, Downing Street issued a statement saying that the Prime Minister had challenged alcohol producers and retailers to take part in the effort to deal with unacceptable drinking “or face tougher action in the future”.

This did not, in fact, represent a new threat, as additional legal controls on alcohol marketing had already been presaged in the national harm reduction strategy for England published in 2004.

The Institute of Alcohol Studies was represented at the seminar by its Chairman, Professor Brian Prichard. Others from the public health field included Professor Ian Gilmore of the Royal College of Physicians and Srabani Sen of Alcohol Concern. Chief among the drinks industry contingent were representatives of the four main supermarket chains Paul Walsh, Chief Executive of Diageo and Rob Hayward of the British Beer and Pub Association.

The seminar is clearly intended to signal that Mr Brown has now taken a personal interest in the alcohol issue and it is understood that he will hold a series of one-to-one meetings with advertisers, retailers and others who attended the meeting, presumably to encourage them to further efforts to reduce industry activities such as inappropriate advertising likely to exacerbate alcohol problems.

After the seminar,Mr Brown was quoted as saying: “We have heard a number of very powerful proposals today but it is clear that the solution lies beyond a stream of individual measures. It's about creating a cultural shift, having local co-ordination, better education and enforcement and individuals taking personal responsibility.”

New Government campaign
The Home Office campaign launched on the day of the Downing Street seminar targeted pubs, clubs and off licences in areas with high levels of alcohol-related crime and disorder over the Christmas period. The campaign was to be focused on up to 1,500 premises in 90 areas selling alcohol to under-age drinkers or people who are already drunk. Retailers risked heavy fines or losing their licences for repeat offences. In addition, from January 2008, local authorities would be able to charge pubs and clubs extra costs for managing alcohol-related disorder in new ‘Alcohol Disorder Zones’. And by the end of 2008, as one element of the National Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy, most labels on alcoholic products will include daily ‘sensible drinking’ guidelines in addition to the already mandatory alcohol content information.

The Government also reiterated its intention to press ahead with a review of the 2003 Licencing Act, “with 24-hour licences likely to remain the exception rather than the rule”.