Alcohol

Thursday 8th July 2010, Strand Palace - London, 08:40 - 14:00 (half day)

Tackling Binge Drinking and Alcohol Related Harm and Disorder

Overview

The Home Office estimates that alcohol-fuelled violent crime costs the UK up to £13 billion a year. According to Sir Liam Donaldson, the former chief medical officer, alcohol consumption has risen 40% in England since 1970; the equivalent of 120 bottles of wine a year per adult. Government statistics also show that nearly a fifth of all violent crime takes place in or around pubs and clubs and nearly half of these occur between Friday evening and Monday morning.

Every year 10,000 young people are admitted to hospital and by the age of 16, with one in five caught up in violence after drinking. To reduce this it is important that there is more effective partnership working between local authorities, the NHS, police and third sector organisations.

The Coalition: our programme for government has outlined the government's proposals to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol and binge drinking. They will overhaul the licensing act; giving local authorities and the police stronger powers over licensing. They will ban cut-price alcohol, double the maximum penalty for underage alcohol sales to £20,000 and enable local councils to charge more for late licenses to fund additional policing.

Agenda

This forum will explore the current landscape and future policy developments in this ever increasingly important area. It will focus on what is being done to tackle under–age drinking and will give delegates the opportunity to discuss the progress that is being made and what work can still be done.

08:40	Coffee and Registration
09:10	Chair’s Welcome Address Roger King, Visiting Fellow, Office for Public Management (CONFIRMED)
09:30	Tackling Binge and Underage Drinking The role of Drinkaware Challenging the national drinking culture to reduce alcohol misuse and minimise alcohol related harm Working with retailers and drinks producers to tackle alcohol misuse Drinkaware grants: Helping organisations to raise awareness of the impacts of alcohol on communities National Alcohol Strategy – Progress so far What the new legislation means in practice Avis Johns, Director, External Affairs, Drinkaware (CONFIRMED)
09:50	Tackling Alcohol Misuse Safe. Sensible. Social – The role of the Department of Health The Alcohol Improvement Programme The ‘Know your Limits’ campaign – The role social marketing can play Working with the Industry The World Class Commissioning Programme – Strengthening alcohol services centrally, regionally and locally Providing advice and support for those most at risk Karishma Chandaria, Policy Advisor, Royal College of Physicians (CONFIRMED)
10:10	Questions and Answers Session
10:20	Coffee and Networking
10:40	Young People, Alcohol and Positive Activities The role of UK Youth in raising awareness of the negative effects of alcohol Working with government to deliver the aims of the Alcohol Action Plan Providing young people with positive alternatives to alcohol Working in partnership with young people Improving young people’s awareness of the negative impacts of alcohol on their welfare Designing programmes to make sensible and informed decisions Gaye Warwick, UK Youth (CONFIRMED)
11:00	Tackling Alcohol Misuse in Teenagers: What Works and How Can Practice Develop? Effective alcohol prevention programmes The role of schools The role families can play in reduce alcohol misuse in teenagers Sustainable and effective community interventions Motivational Interventions The role social marketing can play Jenny Billings, Deputy Director CHSS, Senior Research Fellow, Kent University (CONFIRMED)
11:20	Questions and Answers Session
11:40	Community Alcohol Partnerships - The Role Industry Can Play Locally Responsible retailing Community Alcohol Partnership scheme – Pilots, outcomes and lessons learnt Restricting and preventing sale of alcohol to minors What can the industry do to promote social responsibility within alcohol retailing The CAP toolkit Building on the progress of the pilots Philip Loring, Community Alcohol Partnerships Officer, Wine and Spirit Trade Association (CONFIRMED)
12:00	Managing the Night Time Economy – Brighton City Council Managing the Night time economy forms a key part of their Local Area Agreement, with seven of the top 35 targets covering this area Proactive approach to new legislation Operation Marble – Providing early intervention at the weekend to tackle problems before they happen by increased partnership working between key agencies and businesses ‘Night Safe’ – Linking up over 170 licensed premises; shares information and uses a red and yellow card system, 2 yellow cards and the person is banned from all 170 premises Cultural Initiatives – Attracting a wide range of people Outcomes Tim Nichols, Head of Licensing and Environmental Health, Brighton and Hove City Council (CONFIRMED) and Simon Nelson, Chief Inspector, Operations, Sussex Police (CONFIRMED)
12:30	Questions and Answers Session
12:45	Lunch and Networking
13:45	Close

*programme subject to change without notice

Audience

The audience will be representative of the diversity of the issue and the stakeholders present will include, community safety teams, police & fire authorities, drug and alcohol action teams, youth offending teams, town centre managers, victims support, children’s trusts, licensing teams, social inclusion officers, community cohesion officers, schools, local criminal justice boards, prison/probation service and all those involved in building safer and stronger communities.