Although the presentations do not present findings from the research, they give some preliminary insights into some of the learnings and likely efficacy of brief interventions in various forms and settings. The presentations include:

• Introduction to SIPS
• Implementation of screening and brief intervention in accident and emergency departments: challenges and solutions
• SIPS in primary health care: extending the existing evidence base
• SBI in the criminal justice system: can it be done?

Influences on how children and young people learn about and behave towards alcohol

A two-part review of literature produced on behalf of the Joesph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) examines:

• How young people acquire their knowledge, attitudes, expectations and intentions about alcohol, and:
• What interventions work best to prevent excessive use of alcohol

Young people, alcohol and the news: preliminary findings

AERC Alcohol Insight 67 (pdf) examines a number of issues including how news reporting frames young people's alcohol stories, or accurately reflect their experiences and attitudes. 11 key findings are outlined in the report, also available in the AERC alcohol library

Young people and alcohol: meanings, practices and contexts

From the DCSF summary page:

'This study summarises reported patterns of alcohol consumption among young people, factors associated with young people’s use of alcohol and emerging responses to such use. It then reports the key findings from the fieldwork and concludes with a series of potential implications regarding the reduction of alcohol use (and alcohol-related harms) among young people.'

"We are listening and responding to the strong concerns from the licensed trade who are concerned about responsible premises being caught up with the less responsible ones. We recognise that this is a big change but, having regard to the concerns of stakeholders at our consultation events, we think it is right to respond quickly while we have this opportunity."

Consultation on the proposed code closed in August this year but a story soon followed reporting that the business secretary Lord Mandelson had attempted to halt the code to protect the business interests of the industry. Sectors of the industry, particularly the pub trade, have staunchly opposed the code condemning it as an untargeted measure which could cost £58 million to implement.

The code was due to be brought in as part of the Policing and Crime Bill 2009, currently going through the House of Lords. A mandatory code has been supported by health and public sector professionals and Alcohol Concern have highlighted that alcohol is often poorly labelled and compliance with previous voluntary codes had been low.

The REAP (Research for Effective Alcohol Policies) project will support alcohol policy research and development and will be led by researchers from a range of British Universities. It aims to develop and evaluate community interventions that are responsive to local needs and based on evidence, with the goal of reducing harm from alcohol.

Interested stakeholders should contact Despoina.Xenikaki@lshtm.ac.uk no later than November 13th, indicating your role and e-mail address. Reimbursements for expenses are available.

The AERC Alcohol Academy will be linking into the REAP project to share and develop the experience, skills and learning of alcohol coordinators and strategic leads across the country.

Based on figures from HM Revenues and Customs data, sales have been falling since their 2004 peak, although 2007 levels showed a slight increase on the previous year. Nonetheless the longer term trend has been one of a more significant increase as demonstrated in the recent report from the Alcohol Health and Research Unit 'Future Proof'. 

However consideration is urged when interpreting the data and assessing trends - consumption falls may be predominantly determined by significant decreases in consumption levels amongst younger drinkers in particular (16-24 age group). This was highlighted in the report released earlier this year by the JRF 'Drinking in the UK: an exploration of trends'. The impact of the recession, continued rise in home consumption and issues such as convergence between men and women's drinking patterns is also unclear.

Although rates of alcohol-related hospital admissions are still rising, the rate of increase has been slowing down over recent years. This is likely to reflect the recent falls in consumption as well as the possible impact of alcohol harm reduction interventions such as the such as the NHS led High Impact Changes.

Graph examining trends in per capita alcohol consumption and alcohol-related deaths for the whole UK in the years 1984 – 2008. Source: 'Future Proof: Alcohol Consumption, Mortality and Morbidity - Key Findings' Professor Martin Plant 2009

Further information on consumption and the UK is detailed in the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) factsheets and presentation:

• 'Drinking in Great Britain' factsheet (2008 update) download pdf
  
• Consumption and Harm in the UK and EU: A comparison of the UK with some EU countries (2009 update) download pdf
• Presentation on 'Alcohol harms and trends' (download ppt.) by Dr Rachel Seabrook from the IAS, at the AERC Alcohol Academy launch event 2009.

"The rate of admission in 2008/09 in England was 1562 per 100,000 population, up 6% on 2007/08. The number of admissions was 933 thousand, up 8% on 2007/08.

The rate of admission is highest in the North East (2254) and North West (2080); and lowest in South Central SHA (1127) and East of England SHA (1303). West Midlands SHA has seen the largest increase in the rate of admission relative to the previous year, up 12%, compared with a 1% fall in the South West. However, this follows on from an increase of only 2% in the West Midlands between 2006/07 and 2007/08."

Rates of alcohol-related hospital admissions are likely to be determined by multiple socio-economic factors influencing consumption patterns and behaviours, as well as the impact of alcohol-harm reduction interventions - see our recent news on consumption and trends. The figures will be of particular interest to local authorities and PCTs that have chosen to prioritise alcohol-related targets through NI 39 and VSC 26.

For alcohol-related data and information for your region visit the Local Alcohol Profiles for England site or see here for the national Statistics on Alcohol, England 2009.

The East of England has released its second regional alcohol newsletter, highlighting key news, developments and best practice in the region. The newsletter publishes findings from the Big Drink Debate, examining attitudes and behaviours of people in the region towards alcohol consumption, impacts and harms. Full findings here.

The newsletter also outlines innovative regional alcohol programmes including work to improve offender health in Bedfordshire, with the specific focus on offenders with learning disabilities and mental health issues. It also outlines work in HMP Chelmsford to pilot a peer led Alcohol Misuse, Identification and Brief Advice initiative delivered by Prisoner Health Trainer Champions. Also identified are details of the regional Alcohol Improvement Programme and 7 new projects that have been funded for the region to help deliver the key alcohol High Impact Changes. 

Trendy London area now a 'saturation zone'

Clerkenwell in East London has now been deemed a 'saturation zone' to curb further growth of licensed premises. According to the local paper 'Clerkenwell attracts thousands of revellers to its 135 licensed nightspots every week - but residents claim that with the amount of alcohol on offer, people are drinking excessively and making too much noise.'

'Saturation zones' are informal names given to areas where new licensed premises are restricted through 'Cumulative Impact' policies - see here for DCMS guidance (pdf)

Other news and initiatives

Liverpool are investing in taxi marshals to reduce alcohol-fuelled disorder, according to the Liverpool Echo. Licensing officers in Dorset have rejected an application for a 24 hour alcohol home delivery service, as reported in this BBC story. Volunteer 'street pastors' who help troubled night-spot drinkers have been nominated for an award by Derbyshire police's first annual Community Achievement Awards. Police in Portsmouth have been carrying out undercover operations to catch licensed premises selling to drunk people, according to the local news.

The rise in liver disease is attributable to trends in alcohol consumption, which alongside obesity are key lifestyle factors determining risk. A Daily Mail story reports that last year 105 people a day were admitted to hospital with a primary or secondary diagnosis of alcoholic liver disease. The Department of Health will will recruit a National Clinical Director to develop and implement the national liver strategy.

The Minister for Health Ann Keen said:

''Liver disease is the only one of the top five causes of death which is continuing to affect more people every year at an increasingly young age. We know that by identifying people earlier, encouraging people to change their behaviour and making sure the right services are in the right place, we can improve the quality of care and stop the rise in this disease.

The British Liver Trust welcomed the news, stating 'front-line clinicians and the NHS as a whole need support to tackle the complex causes of liver disease.' The British Liver Trust are currently promoting alcohol awareness week with the message that adults should give themselves 'at least 2 alcohol-free days a week' to promote liver health and reduce the risk of harm from alcohol.

Last year health think-tank the King's Fund produced a report calling on the NHS to adopt a longer term approach to tackling unhealthy lifestyles. They called for priority actions to address smoking, alcohol misuse, poor diet and lack of exercise as key determinants of the health burden of disease.

Youth crime priority areas shared grant funding of £1.4 million to address young people's binge drinking between July and September this year. The figures report:

• 5171 litres of alcohol were confiscated from teenagers (this equates to about 6,600 bottles of lager)
• 3721 actions were taken against young people attempting to consume or consuming alcohol in public places – including 500 dispersal orders
• Nearly 2000 young people were referred to support services - including 324 to alcohol treatment services
• 1829 parents were informed about their child’s alcohol related anti-social behaviour and involved in follow-up action to address their behaviour
• Over 38,000 young people were identified by street based teams with 18,660 signposted to positive activities in their areas
• 2467 test purchase operations were carried out - 349 licensed premises failed a test purchase operation

The funding was part of the £100m Youth Crime Action Plan. A separate Youth Alcohol Action Plan also sets out an enforcement agenda for young people's alcohol use, but also proposed the CMOs guidelines on young people's alcohol consumption outlined earlier this year.

Alcohol-related disorder associated with children and young people looks set to remain a national priority for both the leading political parties, as highlighted at their recent party conferences.

In a letter to the Times, the Directors of Public Health for each PCT in the North West have grouped together to call on the Government to take action and legislate for minimum pricing measures. Such measures were reported to be the most cost-effective approach to reducing alcohol-related harm by an independent review by the University of Sheffield last year. Since then the CMO and other bodies such as Alcohol Concern have also called for minimum pricing measures. Gordon Brown however rejected these calls, but the Conservatives recently announced they would use targeted taxes to address the 'unbelievably low prices' of some drinks. 

The North West's Directors of Public Health have called on the Government to show the leadership it took on smoking in public places and act on alcohol pricing, claiming that alcohol-related hospital admissions have risen 64% in the last 5 years for the region. At a cost of £400 million per year to the NHS in the region, they have argued the measures would 'save 3,393 lives per year, cut crimes by 45,800 and save the country £1 billion every year in alcohol-related costs.' BBC news story here.

NHS and councils leaders will also reportedly discuss this week whether they can adopt minimum pricing measures for the North West region.

House of Commons Health Committee questions supermarkets and sports industry

The latest session of the House of Commons health committee inquiry into alcohol questioned representatives from Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Asda, followed by representatives from the Premier League and the Football League. The supermarkets largely continued to advocate educational approaches in order to address alcohol-related harm and rejected suggestions that minimum pricing was the right response (from 16 minutes in). See this Daily Express story for quotes from the supermarkets.

Warnings over the future of alcohol related harm from senior academic

Research from Professor Martin Plant of the Alcohol Health and Research Unit has attracted headlines warning the 'Alcohol death toll to reach 9,080 a year' (The Guardian). Plant's research, commissioned by Alcohol Concern to look at the future of alcohol-related harms, found that that an increase of one litre in per capita alcohol consumption would result in 928 extra alcohol-related deaths per year in Britain. Should current trends continue, there would be 90,800 deaths linked to drink by 2019. Professor Martin Plant also called for minimum pricing measures to be adopted as 'the most effective, efficient and evidence-based lever' to reduce alcohol harm. See here for the summary of the report 'Future Proof' (pdf).

'Addiction expert John Marsden, who likes a drink, makes a professional and personal exploration of our relationship with alcohol. He undergoes physical and neurological examinations to determine its impact, and finds out why some people will find it much harder than others to resist alcohol. Even at the age of 14 there may be a way of determining which healthy children will turn into addicts.'

It will also be shown on Friday 15th October 21:00 on BBC HD.

Channel 4 last night broadcast a documentary called 'The Red Lion', an exploration of British pub culture, available here on 4od. According to the synopsis:

Award-winning film-maker Sue Bourne sets off on a 3,000-mile journey to some of the country's 600 Red Lions - the most common pub name - to discover why pub culture is so central to British society. She wants to find out why we are still a nation of drinkers despite Government warnings about the dangers of drinking.

In order to partake in the consultation you must register as a stakeholder and submit comments by 10 November 2009.

The guidance currently recommends a range of population and individual based approaches to prevent alcohol-use disorders amongst the population. It includes recommendations on key areas relating to:

• price
• availability
• marketing
• licensing
• resources for screening and brief interventions
• supporting children and young people aged 10 to 15 years
• screening young people aged 16 and 17 years
• motivational counselling with young people aged 16 and 17 years
• screening adults brief advice for adults
• motivational counselling for adults
• referral

The draft guidance has prompted several media stories relating to the recommendations for minimum pricing measures. See Guardian and Times stories.

NICE is also consulting on Alcohol use disorders - clinical management

However the report highlights that no level of alcohol consumption is safe for 15-16 year olds and so does not advocate parents giving children alcohol (as suggested in this BBC story). Instead it recognises that parents who supervise frequency and consumption (e.g preventing binge drinking) may limit harms young people experience. However it also warns that whilst the promotion of abstinence by parents may be effective in some cases, it could also push children to drink alcohol outside of family environments, thereby increasing the risk of higher consumption and alcohol-related harm.

'Teenage drinking, alcohol availability and pricing: a cross-sectional study of risk and protective factors for alcohol-related harms in school children' surveyed just under ten thousand teenagers in the North West of England, all aged between 15-16. It assessed a number of key areas for alcohol-related harm experienced with overall findings reporting:

• 28.8% experienced violence
• 12.5% regretted alcohol-related sexual encounters
• 45.3% reported forgetting things
• 35.8% drinking in public places

The report recommends within its conclusion:

"Strategies to reduce alcohol-related harms in children should ensure bingeing is avoided entirely, address the excessively low cost of many alcohol products, and tackle the ease with which it can be accessed, especially outside of supervised environments."

The CMO's guidance on alcohol use for children and young people was recently supported following consultation.

In his speech, Grayling said the Tories would "...start with the problem of fourteen year olds hanging around with bottles of super-strength beers or ciders. It's much too easy for them to get very drunk quickly and cheaply."

Grayling also announced the Tories would 'tear up this Government's lax licensing regime' by giving more powers to restrict and fine licensed premises.

According to the Conservative party website, measures would be brought in to include:

• Significant tax increases including on alcopops, strong beer and strong cider that contribute to violence and disorder on our streets. As a result, a 4-pack of super-strength beer will be £1.30 more expensive, a 2-litre bottle of super-strength cider will be 84p more expensive and a large bottle of alcopops will be up to £1.50 more expensive.
• Supermarkets and other retailers will be banned from selling alcohol below cost price. This will help tackle the ‘pre-loading’ trend – young people and binge drinkers consuming cheap alcohol at home before going to town centres.
• A much tougher licensing regime. Local councils and the police will be given new powers to restrict the large number of late licences awarded to shops, takeaways and other venues.

Last week Gordon Brown said in his Labour party conference speech that whilst the new licensing laws had helped in some areas, in other areas they had not and that 'no one has yet cracked the whole problem of a youth drinking culture.' Brown suggested that new and unused legislation should be adopted in the form of Drinking Banning Orders and ADZs.

Brown's government has steered clear from taking minimum pricing measures, which have been advocated over recent years by health professionals and bodies as an effective policy to reduce alcohol-related harm. Commenting on the Conservatives' proposals, Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern, Don Shenker said:

“Measures of this kind would be a positive step towards making them much less attractive to teenagers. It may also encourage production of low alcohol products, increasing consumer choice for responsible drinkers.

“But it’s limiting to target teenagers when alcohol misuse occurs among all age groups. Introducing a minimum price for alcohol will reduce harmful drinking, cutting crime and hospital admissions, while having little impact on sensible drinkers."

The report identifies that campaigns in the U.S aiming to tackle social norms were used as a way of reducing alcohol consumption amongst college students. The report was therefore commissioned by Sefton Primary Care Trust to investigate school pupils levels of alcohol consumption and  prevailing attitudes and norms in order to effectively target a social norms campaign. A final sample of 149 pupils partook via an online survey, all aged between 14 to 16. The report explores areas such as drinking behaviour, motivations and perceptions of own and other's drinking.

The report found that most pupils had drunk alcohol and the majority did so for reasons of social interaction and pleasure rather than peer pressure. However a disparity between the perceptions of peer drinking and the level and frequency at which young people actually drank was found. A notable proportion of young people surveyed had experienced adverse effects of alcohol consumption, mainly arguments, hangovers or vomiting.

Key areas recommended to explore under a social norms campaign in schools include:

• Addressing motivations for drinking, such as perceived social enhancement or using alcohol to forget worries. This may include signposting young people to appropriate sources of help or diverting them to other available leisure activities.
• Challenging and tackling the perception held by young people that their peers are drinking more than they actually are by dispelling myths and developing self-esteem.
• Encouraging young people to take safety precautions when out drinking with their friends and highlight the risks associated with drinking in unsupervised areas, such as parks and open spaces.  

However the recent WHO guidance and effectiveness review stated that 'information and education programmes do not reduce alcohol-related harm; nevertheless, they have a role in providing information, reframing alcohol-related problems and increasing attention to alcohol on the political and public agendas.'

A comprehensive examination of children and young people's alcohol use was released last year by the DCSF: 'Use of alcohol among Children and Young People'

The Chief Medical Officer's guidelines on children and young people's alcohol use were recently endorsed through consultation on the proposals.

Findings from the Sefton PCT social norms campaign are expected later this year.