Binge Drinking

Oral Answers to Questions — Home – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 13 February 2006.

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Photo of Sally Keeble Sally Keeble Labour, Northampton North 2:30, 13 February 2006

What progress is being made in tackling binge drinking.

Photo of Hazel Blears Hazel Blears Minister of State (Home Office) (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee

The Licensing Act 2003, which came into effect in November 2005, and a series of alcohol misuse enforcement campaigns have been central to the Government's wider strategy to reduce the harms caused through the misuse of alcohol. The results of the recent enforcement campaign show that, in participating basic command unit areas, all violent crime decreased by 11 per cent.

Photo of Sally Keeble Sally Keeble Labour, Northampton North

I congratulate my right hon. Friend and all the local police forces, particularly my own force in Northamptonshire, on the excellent results of their Christmas campaign. When the police receive extra powers to tackle binge drinking under the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, will she ensure that there is an equally proactive campaign so that they can use those powers to crack down further on binge drinking?

Photo of Hazel Blears Hazel Blears Minister of State (Home Office) (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee

My hon. Friend makes an important point and I congratulate her on her tenacity and determination in taking a lead in her constituency to make sure that those powers are used. I am delighted that, in the latest enforcement campaign, the police used new powers to issue more than 8,000 penalty notices for disorder and I will certainly make sure that alcohol disorder zones, drinking banning orders and the closure powers in the Violent Crime Reduction Bill are used in a similarly proactive way.

Photo of Andrew Turner Andrew Turner Shadow Minister (Cabinet Office)

As the Minister knows, the consequences of binge drinking are not confined to vomit in the gutters and fighting in the streets. Some individuals go home quietly and beat up their wives and girlfriends. On 19 January, I was told that it was too early to assess the impact of the new licensing hours on domestic violence. When will we be able see genuine, unspun comparisons, and what steps will the Minister take, not just to deal with the effects but to prevent alcohol-fuelled domestic violence?

Photo of Hazel Blears Hazel Blears Minister of State (Home Office) (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee

The figures showing that violence has been reduced by 11 per cent., and serious violence by 14 per cent. following the latest campaign are not spun. They are absolutely accurate figures based on a comparison between October and December last year. Moreover, the Government have an extremely proud record of massive decreases in domestic violence and other crimes. An advertising campaign will start tomorrow and we are conducting a thorough evaluation of the impact of the licensing changes in five different areas that will look at a range of issues. The hon. Gentleman should acknowledge the Government's genuine achievements in tackling domestic violence.

Photo of Lindsay Hoyle Lindsay Hoyle Labour, Chorley

My right hon. Friend is well aware of the problems of binge drinking, but under-age binge drinking, too, causes violence, antisocial behaviour, vandalism and so on. What powers can be given to the police, not only to tackle people who sell alcohol to minors but to ensure that the culprits clean up the mess that they leave behind?

Photo of Hazel Blears Hazel Blears Minister of State (Home Office) (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee

A few months ago, 50 per cent. of supermarkets sold alcohol to under-age youngsters but, following the latest enforcement campaign, the figure has gone down to 17 per cent., which is a dramatic achievement. I am grateful to the supermarkets for the pressure that they have brought to bear on the problem, but there is more that we can do. I am concerned about people urinating and vomiting in the street, which is why I am delighted that several hundred fixed penalty notices have been issued. My hon. Friend raised the important issue of reparation, which is certainly something that we could look at.

Photo of Adam Afriyie Adam Afriyie Conservative, Windsor

In Windsor, a wonderful thing has happened. More policemen were put on the beat in crime and binge-drinking hot spots, and violent crime went down. Is the Minister saying that it is the 24-hour licensing laws that have brought about that change, or is it more policemen on the beat?

Photo of Hazel Blears Hazel Blears Minister of State (Home Office) (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee

I think that it is a combination of things. There are more policemen are on the beat as a result of Government policy—there are an extra 13,000 officers since we came to government, and we will have an extra 24,000 community support officers up and down the country as well. However, the change has also taken place because thousands of young people are no longer thrown out on to the street at the same time, leading to fights for a taxi and to fighting in the kebab shop. The licensing changes are sensible and there has been a reduction in violence. I hope that that continues in the long term and we will certainly monitor the impact to make sure that that is the case.