Licensing Act has no impact on drink-fuelled violence for most

LGA press release - 1 July 2008

A survey of police, the NHS and councils has found that most of them consider that the 2003 Licensing Act has made no impact on improving drink-fuelled disorder or late night violence. The research also found that the council taxpayer has been left to pick up a £100m bill for introducing the new scheme.

The survey by the Local Government Association (LGA) of councils, Primary Care Trusts and police authorities found that, whilst the new laws have been effective in simplifying and streamlining licensing laws, they have done little to reduce drink-related violence and have placed increased pressure on local services.

On a positive note, the report also concludes that the Act has had a positive effect in the way that public sector organisations work together, with three quarters of police authorities and PCTs thinking they now work more closely than before on licensing issues.

Key findings of the survey are:

• Around seven out of ten police authorities, PCTs and councils reported an increase or no change in alcohol-related incidents
• Nearly one in three PCTs have reported an increase in alcohol-related incidents
• Half of police authorities report that the Act has simply led to alcohol-related disorder occurring later at night than previously
• 86% of health authorities, mainly through a rise in A&E admissions, and 94% of councils reported an increased pressure on resources
• Councils taxpayers are footing a bill of £100m to implement the new laws

Sir Simon Milton, Chairman of the LGA said:

“An overhaul of alcohol licensing was long overdue and the new system has been very effective in pulling together and simplifying archaic licensing laws that dated back to the First World War.

“The new drinks laws have made no impact whatsoever on reducing the alcohol-related violence that blights town centres and turns them into no-go areas on a Friday and Saturday night. The vast majority of local councils, police and hospitals have reported no change at all, with violent incidents generally just being shifted later into the evening.

”The Government was always going to fall short on its promises to curb excessive drinking because new licensing laws alone were never going to be enough to change this endemic culture of alcohol and violence. The new system was burdened with exaggerated expectations as it was never a single solution to alcohol-related disorder.

“There needs to a wide-ranging national debate about how freely available alcohol is, how the nation views social drinking and how we can go about reducing consumption. It seems that we have a deep-rooted social and cultural problem in this country in the way that we view alcohol that cannot be addressed by one simple piece of legislation. It will take years, possibly decades of concerted action across the board.

“The report also clearly shows the real financial strain that the new laws have had on councils, hospitals and other local services. Hospitals and the police are finding that they are called into action 24 hours a day, stopping disruption, breaking up fights and patching up the walking wounded. 

“Town halls have been landed with an accumulated bill of £100m from the new laws and have been left with little option but to pass the cost on to the council taxpayer. It is totally unacceptable that the hard-pressed council taxpayer should be forced to pick up the bill for something that the government said would not cost them a penny.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. The survey was commissioned from TNS to carry out research into the increase understanding of the Licensing Act 2003. 120 telephone interviews took place of 51 local authorities, 49 Primary Care Trusts and 20 police authorities. Full survey available on request.

Download the Licensing act 2003 and effects of alcohol report 08 (PDF, 28 pages, 314KB)

Author: LGA Media Office
Contact: Matt Nicholls, LGA Media Office, tel 0207 664 3353