Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Home Office – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 31 January 2005.
I am extremely concerned about binge drinking, particularly as a report in my local paper, the Hartlepool Mail, recently suggested that almost half of 15 to 16-year-old schoolgirls in my constituency had drunk up to 14 units of alcohol in the previous week. A local nightclub, the Wesley, was recently bought by new owners, who voluntarily clamped down hard on excessive drinking, especially among the young, with beneficial results in respect of the number of incidents occurring in or near the club. What else can the Minister do to ensure that more pubs and clubs emulate the Wesley and encourage responsible drinking? Perhaps she could ensure that Hartlepool has one of the first alcohol disorder zones.