Alcohol Harm Reduction toolkit published

A guide to implementing alcohol harm reduction strategies at local level has been published jointly by the Department of Health, the Home Office and the Department of Children, Schools, and Families.

The toolkit is intended as a resource to help local teams develop strategies to address alcohol-related crime, ill health and other harm in line with Safe. Sensible. Social. The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy. It is written specifically to help alcohol leads and others within local authorities, primary care trusts (PCTs), children’s services and delivery partnerships such as Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) and Drug and Alcohol Action Teams (DAATs) – the people most likely to be responsible for developing and delivering alcohol strategies locally. It will also be useful to individual agencies tackling alcohol misuse.

The toolkit is based on the Local Alcohol Strategy Toolkit produced by London Drug and Alcohol Network and Alcohol Concern in 2004 (see www.localalcoholstrategies.org.uk). It provides a step-by-step process on how to develop a local alcohol strategy, and suggests a range of activities to help with the three key strategic areas of health, community safety and children and young people.

The strategy is available on the Home Office website at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/alcohol-strategy-2007