Response to Howard League for Penal Reform Research showing that offending is more likely to be related to alcohol than drugs

22nd December 2004

Richard Phillips, Acting Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern, says:

?This report brings home the extent to which alcohol misuse is implicated in many crimes in the UK.

?As a population we are drinking more and we?re drinking more often. As consumption increases, so does the risk of violent offending. Moreover, alcohol problems among offenders have been identified as a factor preventing rehabilitation and increasing the risk of re-offending.

?It may not get headlines in the same way as drugs, but if we want to avoid re- processing people through the criminal justice system and are committed to decreasing the numbers of alcohol-related crimes committed, tackling underlying problems such as alcohol misuse is vital.

?At present no prison in Britain has an adequate response to the high level of alcohol misuse; to date the Government?s response to these priorities has been limited.

?The Prison Service Alcohol Strategy launched last week is an important step forward to tackling the nation?s alcohol misuse problems and we?re now looking to the Government to announce funding for this to be rolled out in all prisons across the country?

ENDS

Alcohol Concern has made a number of recommendations to combat alcohol-fuelled crime and disorder in the UK. These include:
· More arrest referrals schemes: These schemes involve referring an offender to a local alcohol service for a brief course of treatment. There are currently eight pilot schemes in operation and early results show this approach can change behaviour.

· Improving treatment services: To prevent re-offending the Government needs to invest in more specialist alcohol treatment services. Such services are not widely available at present, leaving many offenders untreated and at risk of re-offending.

· More prison alcohol treatment programmes: Around 20,000 prisoners in England and Wales have serious alcohol dependency problems yet no prisons are equipped with adequate alcohol treatment services. And despite a prison alcohol strategy having developed, there is no Government funding to implement it.

· Levies on licensed premises: Charging pubs, clubs and bars in problem areas in towns and city centres to help pay for additional policing required and street cleaning costs.

Date: 22 December 2004