1 Introduction

1.1 The purpose of this report is to:

1.1.1 Inform Policy Review Committee about the government's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy published in March 2004.

1.1.2 Describe the position of alcohol services in Hampshire in relation to the national strategy.

1.1.3 Make recommendations on the future commissioning of alcohol services in Hampshire.

2. Relevance to the Corporate Strategy

2.1 The alcohol strategy and the delivery of coordinated services is essential to achieving the aims of the corporate strategy specifically:

2.2 Aim 1 - Maximising life opportunities as many people's lives are affected by alcohol misuse.

2.3 Aim 4 - Building strong and safe communities as alcohol misuse is strongly correlated with crime and disorder.

2.4 Aim 5 - Improving Services as alcohol services across Hampshire vary considerably in quantity and quality. There is no universal coverage.

2.5 Aim 6 - Developing councillors and staff who need to be aware of the risks associated with alcohol misuse and the services available.

3. The Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England

3.1 The Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England (The Strategy) was published in March 2004.

3.2 It sets out the Government's strategy for tackling the harms and costs of alcohol misuse in England. The aim of the strategy is to prevent any further increase in alcohol-related harm in England.

3.3 It states that the vast majority of people enjoy alcohol without causing harm to themselves or to others - indeed they can also gain some health and social benefits from moderate use. But for others, alcohol misuse is a very real problem. It is estimated that alcohol misuse is now costing around £20 billion a year. The misuse of alcohol has widespread and harmful effects on local communities.

3.4 This is made up of alcohol-related health disorders and disease, crime and anti-social behaviour, loss of productivity in the workplace, and problems for those who misuse alcohol and their families, including domestic violence.

3.5 The strategy sets out a cross-government approach that relies on creating a partnership at both national and local levels between government, the drinks industry, health and police services, and individuals and communities to tackle alcohol misuse. Key themes are as follows:

3.6 Better education and communication - The strategy includes a series of measures aimed at achieving a long term change in attitudes to irresponsible drinking and behaviour, including:

3.6.1 Making the "sensible drinking" message easier to understand and apply.

3.6.2 Targeting messages at those most at risk, including binge and chronic drinkers.

3.6.3 Providing better information for consumers, both on products and at the point of sale.

3.6.4 Providing alcohol education in schools that can change attitudes and behaviour.

3.6.5 Providing more support and advice for employers.

3.6.6 Reviewing the code of practice for TV advertising to ensure that it does not target young drinkers or glamorise irresponsible behaviour.

3.7 Improving health and treatment services - The strategy proposes a number of measures to improve early identification and treatment of alcohol problems. These measures include:

3.7.1 Improved training of staff to increase awareness of likely signs of alcohol.

3.7.2 Piloting schemes to find out whether earlier identification and treatment of those with alcohol problems can improve health and lead to longer-term savings.

3.7.3 Carrying out a national audit of the demand for and provision of alcohol treatment services, to identify any gaps between demand and provision

3.7.4 Better help for the most vulnerable - such as homeless people, drug addicts, the mentally ill and young people. They often have multiple problems and need clear pathways for treatment from a variety of sources.

3.8 Combating alcohol-related crime and disorder - The strategy proposes a series of measures to address the problems of those town and city centres that are blighted by alcohol misuse at weekends. These include:

3.8.1 Greater use of exclusion orders to ban those causing trouble from pubs and clubs or entire town centres.

3.8.2 Greater use of the new fixed-penalty fines for anti-social behaviour.

3.8.3 Working with licensees to ensure better enforcement of existing rules on under-age drinking and serving people who are already drunk. Working in partnership with the industry to reduce anti-social behaviours - issues to be addressed may include layout of pubs and availability of seating, managing crime and disorder in city centres and improved information on safe drinking in pubs.

3.8.4 In addition to local initiatives, the Security Industry Authority (SIA) will begin the licensing of door supervisors with effect from March 2004.

3.9 Working with the alcohol industry - The strategy builds on the good practice of some existing initiatives and involves the alcohol industry in new initiatives at both national level (drinks producers) and at local level (retailers, pubs and clubs). At national level, a social responsibility charter for drinks producers, will strongly encourage drinks companies to:

3.9.1 Pledge not to manufacture products irresponsibly - for example, no products that appeal to under-age drinkers or that encourage people to drink well over recommended limits.

3.9.2 Ensure that advertising does not promote or condone irresponsible or excessive drinking.

3.9.3 Put the sensible drinking message clearly on bottles alongside information about unit content.

3.9.4 Move to packaging products in safer materials - for example, alternatives to glass bottles.

3.9.5 Make a financial contribution to a fund that pays for new schemes to address alcohol misuse at national and local levels, such as providing information and alternative facilities for young people.

3.10 At local level, there will be new "code of good conduct" schemes for retailers, pubs and clubs, run locally by a partnership of the industry, police and licensing panels, and led by the local authority. These will ensure that industry works alongside local communities on issues which really matter such as under-age drinking and making town centres safer and more welcoming at night.

3.11 Participation in these schemes will be voluntary. The success of the voluntary approach will be reviewed early in the next parliament. If industry actions are not beginning to make an impact in reducing harms, Government will assess the case for additional steps, including possibly legislation.

3.12 Implementation

3.12.1 Nationally there will be a shared responsibility across Government. Ministers at the Home Office and the Department of Health will take the lead. Progress will be measured regularly against clearly defined indicators and there will be a stock take in 2007.

3.12.2 The strategy recognises that there are examples of excellent practice at local level but no established ways of delivering them and proposes:

"flexibility for local partnerships to deliver what is needed for their area, whilst staying in line with the aims of the national strategy".

3.12.3 The responsible local partnerships are seen as the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRP) and the Drug Action Teams (DAT). Many DATs have combined with CDRPs and taken on the commissioning of alcohol services, particularly in unitary authorities. In Hampshire the DAT works with the district councils and their CDRPs.

3.12.4 The strategy states that the remaining Drug Action Teams will be encouraged to take on responsibility for alcohol services. Primary Care Trusts will remain responsible for treating alcohol related conditions, whilst all partners will share a responsibility for the identification and referral of individuals with alcohol related problems and for wider prevention activity.

3.13 Performance Measures

3.13.1 Compulsory strategies will not be sought from local authorities but the Government will expect to see measures for tackling alcohol misuse embedded within existing strategic frameworks.

3.14 Funding

3.14.1 The strategy makes no reference to any additional funding being available.

4. Alcohol Services in Hampshire

4.1 Many different agencies across Hampshire provide alcohol services and there is no overall coordination of activity or mapping of investment. Most Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have identified alcohol misuse as a serious issue and some have specific initiatives to deal with local problems.

4.2 Hampshire Drug Action Team commission some Drug and Alcohol services where the services have historically been combined but it is currently resourced only to commission services for drug misusers.

4.3 Hampshire County Council Policy Unit on behalf of the Crime and Disorder Reduction partnerships and the Drug Action Team commissioned an audit of alcohol services across Hampshire.

4.4 The report, prepared by Alcohol Concern Consultancy, stated that alcohol services in Hampshire "are essentially designed to work with longer term chronic drinkers rather than to tackle alcohol related harm at the community level e.g. preventing groups of young people behaving anti-socially under the influence of alcohol".

4.5 The report argues for investment in alcohol services based on its finding that:

4.5.1 Alcohol agencies themselves report under-funding.

4.5.2 There are waiting lists for basic services.

4.5.3 There is an absence of certain services across the county.

4.5.4 Comparisons of activity with national predictions indicate a significant shortfall in service.

4.6 If capacity is to be expanded the priorities would be:

4.6.1 Advice and information - countywide.

4.6.2 Counselling - Hart/Rushmoor, New Forest, Gosport, Fareham, Havant and East Hants.

4.6.3 Community Detoxification - Hart/Rushmoor.

4.6.4 Day Care - countywide.

4.7 The report makes thirty recommendations, many of which identify the Hampshire Drug Action Team as the lead agency.

5. Future Commissioning of Alcohol Services in Hampshire

5.1 Hampshire Drug Action Team discussed the strategy at its meeting on 19 April and agreed to consult with stakeholders whether it should become a Drugs and Alcohol Action Team and take on the commissioning for Alcohol services.

5.2 The major threat in taking on the commissioning of Alcohol services is that the resources dedicated to delivering the National Drug Strategy would be diluted. It must be noted that the Hampshire DAT has had to commission ten new services this year to begin to secure a more comprehensive range of drug services across Hampshire. The work involved in this has been significant.

5.3 The Government Office of the South East, has agreed that Hampshire can use some of its grant for Crime Reduction Partnership working, to fund on a one year basis, a worker within the Drug Action Team to begin work on the recommendations arising out of the Alcohol Concern consultancy report.

6. Conclusion

6.1 The Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England as a comprehensive strategy is to be welcomed. It is of significant concern that the strategy does not identify any additional resources for its implementation. There are substantial gaps in the commissioning and provision of alcohol services across Hampshire.

7. Recommendations

7.1 PRC to welcome to Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England.

7.2 PRC to note the concerns regarding funding of the implementation of the strategy.

7.3 PRC to comment upon whether Hampshire Drug Action Team becomes the responsible body for the implementation of the strategy.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The Following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt of confidential information as defined in the Act.

Tackling Alcohol Related Crime and Disorder in Hampshire. Prepared by Mike Ward and Helen Colquhoun. Alcohol concern.