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Dr Steven Toole Policy and Public Affairs Manager

Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Consumption Controversies: Alcohol Policies in the UK. Dr Steven Toole Policy and Public Affairs Manager Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) 20 May 2010 s.toole@rgs.org.

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Dr Steven Toole Policy and Public Affairs Manager

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  1. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)Consumption Controversies: Alcohol Policies in the UK Dr Steven Toole Policy and Public Affairs Manager Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)20 May 2010 s.toole@rgs.org

  2. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)Consumption Controversies: Alcohol Policies in the UK • WHO? are the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) • WHY? are we interested in alcohol issues and studies • WHAT? - Have we done so far? - Are we still planning to do?- Have found so far?

  3. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)Consumption Controversies: Alcohol Policies in the UK 1. WHO? are the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) • We are the learned society and professional body for geography & geographers.Founded in 1830, we are a world centre for geography: supporting research, education, expeditions and fieldwork, and promoting public engagement and informed enjoyment of our world.

  4. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)Consumption Controversies: Alcohol Policies in the UK 2. WHY? are we interested in alcohol issues and studies • Academic studies: RGS-IBG annual conference in Manchester (August 2009) Geography of Health Research Group on “Drinking Places: what about health?” • Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) research project led by Gill Valentine (Leeds) on Family Life, Parenting and Alcohol in the UK • National Health Survey contributor, Nicola Shelton (UCL) and Professor Graham Moon (Southampton) both on the Geography of Binge Drinking: Who Drinks What? • PhD student, Melissa Stepney (Reading), on comparing female (student) drinking behaviour in the UK and Netherlands

  5. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)Consumption Controversies: Alcohol Policies in the UK 3. WHAT? Have we done so far • Policy Seminar “Drinking Spaces and Places” at the RGS-IBG, February 2010 Why policy levers need to recognise the importance of where and how people drink Session 1: Policy Context • Binge drinking in England, a regional view: Dr Nicola Shelton : Department of Epidemiology and Public Health University College London • Learning to drink - 11 to 15 year olds and alcohol : Elizabeth Fuller, National Centre for Social Research (NATCEN) • Developments in Scotland : Dr Emilia Crighton, Scottish Convenor, Faculty for Public Health (FPH) • Working to put Home Office alcohol policy into practice : Eric Stark, Regional Alcohol Lead, Government Office of London

  6. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)Consumption Controversies: Alcohol Policies in the UK 3. WHAT? Have we done so far • Policy Seminar “Drinking Spaces and Places” at the RGS-IBG, February 2010 Session 2: Private Drinking Places: Home and Away • The Historical culture of drinking: Historical/cultural reasons for drinking – how the ‘current crisis’ has built over thirty years Dr James Kneale, Geography, University College London • Where people drink - assessing the shift in emphasis from city-centre to the home, and the role of relationships at home : (Joseph Rowntree Funded work) : Professor Gill Valentine, Geography, Leeds and Dr Sarah Holloway, Geography, Loughborough Session 3: Public Drinking Spaces • Night time economies: Alistair Turnham, MAKE Associates (coming soon) • Designing drinking spaces: From Park to Club - youth, alcohol and place : Professor Marion Roberts, School of Architecture and the Built Environment, University of Westminster • Local spaces: licensing and managing public disorder John Thornhill, Chairman of the Magistrates Association

  7. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)Consumption Controversies: Alcohol Policies in the UK 3. WHAT? Are we planning to do Consumption Controversies: Alcohol policies in the UK Policy Paper • Controversy 1: The UK has a drink problem, and the biggest bingers are in Scotland and the North East • Controversy 2: Everyone likes a drink don’t they – why worry? • Controversy 3: Problem drinking is a new phenomena • Controversy 4: Has our 'night-time economy’ been revitalised by drinking, or are our town and cities are becoming no-go zones) • Controversy 5: A continental drinking culture is better • Controversy 6: It is safer to drink at home • Controversy 7: Children should not drink alcohol • Controversy 8: We can’t control drinking by raising prices • Controversy 9: Too much focus is given to treating the effects of alcohol consumption rather than reducing consumption • Controversy 10: Isn’t saving the British Pub more important

  8. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)Consumption Controversies: Alcohol Policies in the UK 3. WHAT? Have we found so far Controversy 1: The UK has a drink problem (and the biggest bingers are in Scotland and the North East • Department for Health’s National Health Survey (Nicola Shelton, UCL) • Since the mid-1990s there has been little change in the prevalence of ‘binge drinking’ – but headline statistics however mask the potential impact of an increase in alcohol strengths • More “binge drink” in North East than South Controversy 2: Everyone likes a drink don’t they – why worry? • ‘Binge drinking’ is not restricted to young people • ‘Middle aged’ drinking outside of public spaces and the glaring eye of media scrutiny • Men in South East (40-49) and North East (30-39) ‘binge’ as often as young men (18-29) • Consumption trends decreasing for younger age groups but not for middle/older age groups • Joseph Rowntree Foundation work which examined drinking practices in Stoke and Eden, Cornwall (Valentine et al 2008): drinking at home is the most popular venue for consuming alcohol for all age groups • Binge drinkers are much more likely to feel it is acceptable to be drunk (Shelton) • Acceptability of ‘binge drinking’, and the desire to do something about it – shows significant regional variations, with views showing a very close relationship with the pattern of overall levels of drinking in each area (Shelton 2010).

  9. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)Consumption Controversies: Alcohol Policies in the UK 3. WHAT? Have we found so far Controversy 6: It is safer to drink at home • Public and policy debates about alcohol: centering on questions of regeneration and fears of drunken disorder/binge drinking within the night-time economy, is overly biased towards problem drinking in public spaces (Holloway et al 2008) Controversy 7: Children should not drink alcohol • Government’s former Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson produced new guidance aimed at children and drinking alcohol, stating “…if children drink alcohol, it should not be until at least the age of 15 years …. should always be with the guidance of a parent or carer or in a supervised environment … [and] may suffer high levels of harm if they begin drinking in parks, streets or other unsupervised settings.” (Department of Health, December 2009)

  10. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)Consumption Controversies: Alcohol Policies in the UK Controversy 7: Children should not drink alcohol • Evidence: more than half of children (11-15 year olds), both boys and girls, have tried alcohol and increases with age from 16% of 11 year olds to 81% of 15 year olds (Shelton and Fuller) • Regional variations: match the national picture for adults, with the lowest consumption levels in London and the highest in the north-east (Shelton and Fuller) • Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF): research has sought to clarify whether family relationships and experiences influence upon the drinking behaviour of children – showing a strong relationship between family attitudes and drinking • Lower levels of drinking alcohol by children: where a family does not approve - just 20% had tried alcohol, compared with 76% where their family did not mind. • Children who drink usually do so with friends of their own age (52%) rather than with their parents (41%) and do so in a mixture of locations: at their own home (45%), at someone else’s home (31%), at parties with friends (33%), out of doors (such as on the street or in parks) (27%), but only a very small proportion in a pub or bar (7%). • Children drinking ‘out of doors’ are more likely to be higher consumers of alcohol and binge drinking behaviour, but also take part in other ‘risk-taking’ behaviours such as smoking, taking drugs, playing truant, or having been drunk, vomited, had a fight, or been in trouble with the police.

  11. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)Consumption Controversies: Alcohol Policies in the UK Dr Steven Toole Policy and Public Affairs Manager Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)20 May 2010 s.toole@rgs.org

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