Crime and disorder
Alcohol-related crime costs the country £7.9bn per year.
About half of all cases of violent crime are thought to be alcohol-related - there is a clear link between alcohol misuse and crime but drinking does not cause crime.
Increasingly many people feel uncomfortable in town centres as they fear the disorder associated with large numbers of people drinking to excess. A 2009 YouGov survey conducted for Alcohol Concern showed that this could be as many as a third of the population who thought that town centres had become 'no-go' zones at night due to alcohol-related problems.
About a fifth of alcohol-related crime is committed in or around licensed premises and there is a link between the density of licensed premises and crime. There is a strong need to promote sensible retail practice in the sale of alcohol and sufficient policing of the night-time economy. Encouraging safer drinking and making sure that those that commit alcohol-related crime benefit from addressing their drinking rather than just being punished, would go some way to tackling the problems we face.
So far the voluntary retail regulations operated by clubs and pubs have failed to address these issues and Alcohol Concern has called for a Mandatory Code on Alcohol Sales to make practice safe and consistent which will ensure town centres are more pleasant environments for everyone to enjoy.
Alcohol Concern believes that a public health objective should be added to the Licensing Act, as it has in Scotland, enabling Licensing Authorities to make decisions about licenses based on the overall health and well-being of an area. Local authorities need to be given greater freedom than the current Licensing Act (2003) allows; they need to be able to make decisions, in terms of changing, refusing or withdrawing licenses on the basis of what is the best interest and health of local communities.
Arrest referral schemes should be properly funded and rolled out across the country. These have been shown to be effective and would effectively reduce alcohol-related crime in the long term.
Tackling the cheap price of alcohol both in 'on' and 'off' premises would have a significant impact on the level of alcohol-related crime and disorder. For example, research shows that a 50p minimum per unit price would result in 10,000 fewer violent crimes.