TOWN Hall bosses at Warrington are being asked to approve an anti-alcohol strategy to try and cut the £74.87 million annual cost of drink-related problems in the town.
Harm caused by alcohol costs every person in the borough £376 a year, according to a report to be presented to the borough council’s executive board.
This is less than nearby towns such as Wigan (£403 per person) and Stockport (£385) but more than Trafford (£336) and Bury (£367).
Warrington’s £74.87 million drinks bill is divided under four main headings: Health: £17.74m; crime and licensing: £25.76m; workforce and the wider economy: £27.67m; social care: £3.70m.
The new alcohol harm reduction strategy will be the third adopted in Warrington. Previous ones covered the periods 2006-9 and 2009-12. The new one will cover the period 2012-15.
Despite the fact that the harm caused by long-term alcohol abuse is increasingly well-known, it remains a serious and growing public health issue, the report states.
While the latest research shows that the overall trend in drinking is now reducing, over the last 20 years, alcohol consumption has increased and there is now a culture in which alcohol is used as never before, with more alcohol being purchases from off-licenses and supermarkets.
All communities across Warrington are affected by alcohol abuse and it impacts on a wide range of public services such as health and well-being, children and young people, crime and disorder and the local economy.
Warrington Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) – with a membership including the borough council, health services, police, probation, Jobcentre Plus, voluntary and community sector, fire service and others – is responsible for delivering the strategy.
The aims are to reduce hospital admissions for drink-related conditions, particularly for the under-18s, changing attitudes to alcohol, encouraging the responsible supply of alcohol, developing treatment services and reducing the impact on the family structure, with a focus on hidden harm in relation to children and young people and domestic abuse.
Cllr Pat Wright (pictured), the borough council’s executive member for health and wellbeing, said: “There is already a solid foundation of work in Warrington to reduce the harms associated with alcohol misuse – but more needs to be done.
“The inappropriate availability of alcohol is a source of public concern and the cause of health and public order problems across many towns and cities.
“The reduction of supply of alcohol to the wrong people, or in the wrong context, is essential to deal with the health problems and anti-social behaviour arising from ‘binge’ drinking and chronic overuse of alcohol by young people and adults.”
3 Comments
Perhaps it would help if pubs/bars etc closed earlier rather than being given permission for extended opening times until the early hours (or even virtually all night in some cases).
Never quite sure how the figures are arrived at, but however they are, they are part of an equation, on one side is the cost as indicated in the article, on the other is the income, by way of the tax and duty paid and the many jobs created by the alcohol industry. I understand that in the UK this year that in alcohol duty alone, just under £11 billion will be collected on top of which there will be VAT on all sales.
It is absolutely true that excessive alcohol wrecks lives, causes ill health and kills people and that the cost to the individual, society and public services is high, however in any rational debate that has to be balanced by the contribution made to the economy by responsible drinkers.
Those who seriously abuse alcohol to the extent of seriously harming their health generally DO NOT buy their alcohol at the prices charged in bars and nightclubs. They are mainly buying unbranded spirits on offers from off licences and supermarkets.