Density of off-licences linked to underage drinking
The study, One on every corner, found that off-licences are the predominant direct and indirect source of alcohol for under18s.
It found there are two-off-licences for every 100,000 people, excluding London, and that nearly 10% of all alcohol specific hospital admissions for under-18s are directly attributable to the concentration of off-licences in a local area.
Of the 19,367 children and young people admitted to hospital for alcohol specific reasons between 2006 and 2009, over 1,900 of these admissions could be directly attributable to the number of off-licenses in the young persons area.
In 2009, there were over 49,000 off-licensed premises in England and Wales — an increase of more than 25% over the past 30 years.
The report states that the general availability of alcohol through greater number of off-licences may increase the volume of alcohol in the home, as well as friends’ access to alcohol.
It also increases the number of opportunities for under-18s to “shoulder-tap”, asking someone else to buy alcohol for them outside shops as well as direct underage purchases by minors.
The report calls for Government to introduce a new health objective to licensing laws, as in Scotland, to control the density of off-licences in an area.
“It is a sobering thought that the numbers of off-licences in any one area has an impact on under-18s drinking and ending up in hospital,” said Alcohol Concern Chief Executive, Don Shenker.
“It is a failing of the current system that so many licences are being granted without due consideration to young people’s health.
“Local licensing committees are currently operating with one arm tied behind their backs. Current licensing legislation does not give licensing committees enough power to restrict high density of licensed premises.
“A new health objective should be included in the Licensing Act to enable local authorities to refuse new licenses in order to reduce alcohol-related harm and protect young people.
“We also need more research to understand the relationship between off-licence density and alcohol harms and better collection of alcohol harm data to feed into licensing decision-making.”
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK and Royal College of Physicians special advisor on alcohol said: “This research further underlines the need for a comprehensive alcohol strategy from the government, which tackles the affordability, promotion and the availability of alcohol.”
Pocket money prices
Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) chief executive Nick Bish said: "Around 70 per cent of all alcohol bought is now from supermarkets and shops — with a significant proportion of this sold at irresponsible pocket-money prices.
"This report, therefore, comes as little surprise to the ALMR and is recognition of the part that off-trade premises also have to play in selling alcohol responsibly.
“We hope the health community and government will continue to recognise that the vast majority of pubs and bars – where consumption is supervised and food is increasingly part of the offer – are part of the solution to tackling alcohol issues, and not a problem.”
Bish also highlighted the lack of power that councils currently have in controlling the sale of alcohol in the off-trade, compared to the amount of controls the on-trade faces.
“Local authorities already have the power to limit and control the number of licences in an area — on and off — through cumulative impact policies,” he added.
“What they don't have is the power to control where, when and how alcohol is sold in a shop, the same way they can for pubs. It is that which needs addressing rather than arbitrary caps on a market.”
