Contact: Find out more and book etc here: http://www.insidegovernment.co.uk/communities/alcohol/index.php
Information: On the 4th March 2008, the Government published the evidence gathered so far on the operation of the licensing laws introduced in England and Wales in November 2005. In the report, the government set out how it intends to monitor the licensing regime over the next few weeks and months, and the immediate actions it will take to tackle alcohol-related problems.
Overall, crime and alcohol consumption are down. But alcohol-related violence has increased in the early hours of the morning and some communities have seen a rise in disorder. The main conclusion is that people are using the freedoms but people are not sufficiently using the considerable powers granted by the Act to tackle problems, and that there is a need to rebalance action towards enforcement and crack down on irresponsible behaviour.
Whilst crimes involving violence may have reduced over the evening time period, the evidence points to an increases in offences, including violent crimes, reported between 3am and 6am. This represents 4 per cent of night-time offences. Similarly, whilst there is no clear picture of whether alcohol related demands on A&E services and alcohol-related admissions have risen, some hospitals have seen a fall in demand, others have reported an increase. It is also clear that the overall reduction in alcohol-related disorder that communities want to see across the country has not consistently materialised in all areas.
For more information please see: http://www.insidegovernment.co.uk/communities/alcohol/index.php
