News Date: Sunday 16th January 2005
Loughton: Action need to stop soaring levels of alcohol-related crime
Calls to postpone introduction of reckless new licensing laws
Tim Loughton MP for East Worthing and Shoreham this week added his voice to growing concern over the introduction of new licensing laws, which will allow an explosion in late night drinking. A senior judge has warned that town centres across Britain are becoming ?revolting and dangerous places' and young people are being turned into 'urban savages' because of the rise in alcohol-fuelled violence.
Analysis of Home Office crime figures has revealed that the number of violent attacks across Adur, Arun and Worthing have soared by an average of 29.6% since 1999, up from an average of 1,032 violent attacks across the local authority area in 1999 to an average of 1344.3 in 2003/4? with alcohol a key cause. Criminal damage across the region has risen by 21%.
Loughton explained,
'I am all in favour of people having a good time out. But in West Sussex, as in towns and cities across Britain today, we are creating not a caf? culture, but a yob culture. The consequences of binge drinking are very serious: fights, shop windows smashed in, communities vandalised. People find this intimidating and frightening; they want a government that restores decent values and respect. Yet Mr Blair is content to unleash 24 hour drinking on our towns and cities which will only make this problem worse. It is no wonder that most people feel they have been forgotten by Labour.
'The Government must delay 24-hour opening until we conquer binge drinking. Only Conservatives will take action, enforcing zero tolerance policing and giving local councils the proper powers to tackle these problems.'
Under the policies proposed by Conservatives:
- Local councils will have greater discretion over licensing hours, rather than having to follow Whitehall diktats. This will mean local residents will have a greater say.
- There should be stronger powers to control late licences to prevent disorder hotspots, where they are too many bars or pubs in a vicinity.
- Councils should have the ability to prohibit ?all you can drink? promotions, where young people are encourage to binge drink on free drinks after paying a one-off entrance fee.
- Sussex will receive 906 extra police officers, and red-tape will be cut to get more police offices back on the beat
Loughton continued:
'Binge drinking and under-age drinking has a direct link to soaring levels of violent crime - no wonder that violent attacks across East Worthing and Shoreham have soared by 29.6% since 1999, and criminal damage is up 21%. It is time to reclaim our streets and make them safer for everyone at night.'
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Senior judge, Charles Harris QC, has warned that Government licensing policies are turning young people into ?urban savages? and making town centres ?revolting and dangerous places?.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/11/ndrink11.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/11/ixhome.html
Conservative proposals
Conservatives have called for the implementation of the new Licensing Act to be postponed, until revised licensing laws can be introduced. Conservatives are calling for:
- Greater local discretion: The Licensing Act 2003 will hand control of licensing over to local councils, however, councils will be forced to follow rigid central government guidelines issued by the Department of Culture, Media & Sport. Conservatives will review these guidelines - with the aim of scrapping the vast majority of them. Decisions about licensing should be made in town halls - not Whitehall. Local councillors represent local people - and Conservatives will let them take their own decisions, accountable to local people via the ballot box.
- Tougher action on cumulative impact: Local councils should be free to decide that there are already enough bars or pubs in a neighbourhood. Clusters of pubs and bars can create disorder 'hotspots'. Local councils should be able to take into account the proximity of existing licensed premises. The provisions on 'cumulative impact' in the new government guidelines are insufficient - as they relate only to new licence applications, not variations; hence councils will find it difficult to stop a licensed premise extending its opening hours; the guidance also states that that local authorities are to be discouraged from determining fixed terminal hours in areas of cumulative impact.
- 'Stopping 'all you can drink' promotions: How pubs and clubs are managed is a key factor in explaining why some venues generate disorder, while others do not. Local councils should be able to attach conditions to licences, for example on ?all you can drink? alcohol promotions; such conditions are currently prohibited by the 1998 Competition Act which sought to prevent the setting of minimum price controls.
