Drinks trade hits back at Merseyside plan for ‘no-go’ licensing policy

Nov 5 2007 by David Higgerson, Liverpool Daily Post

THE drinks industry last night belatedly hit back at calls on Merseyside for a ban on alcohol licences in area where binge boozing is a problem, branding the idea “barmy”.

The Daily Post revealed last month how health leaders on Merseyside planned to lobby the Government for licensing committees on councils to receive greater power when determining if new pubs and bars could open.

The group, led by the strategic health authority, wants the Government to allow councillors to take into consideration levels of alcohol abuse in areas before deciding whether to grant a licence.

If the move, already common practice in parts of Scotland, was accepted, it could have major implications in cities like Liverpool, which has one of the worst records in the country for alcohol-related health problems.

But last night Mark Hastings, of the British Beer and Pub Association, called the proposals both "barmy" and unrealistic.

He said: "Well, quite frankly it's a barmy idea and I think it demonstrates why I would be quite happy for a medic to give me a good old medical check-over but quite unhappy for them to write a business plan for me. There's absolutely no link at all between the number of licences in an area and the amount people drink."

NHS North West plans to begin lobbying Government on its proposals in the new year, and has likened its work to the successful “smoke-free” campaign which led to the new smoking ban.

Dr Ruth Hussey, director of public health at NHS North West, said being surrounded by places to drink encourages binge drinking.

She said: “It’s the environment that you're in that either makes it hard for you to follow a healthy lifestyle, or it makes it easy to follow a healthy lifestyle.

“If you're in an environment that says ‘let's drink to excess’, it actually makes it harder to exercise your own choice.”

Crucially, the campaign will have the backing of the Royal College of Physicians, whose president is Liverpool-based liver specialist Prof Ian Gilmore.

He said: “Alcohol misuse is becoming epidemic and dominating much of our work in hospitals.

“I am certainly concerned that the changes in licensing laws in this country didn't take account of the needs of public health.

“When I became a doctor 25 years ago, cirrhosis was a disease of middle-aged and elderly men.

“Now we're seeing it in both sexes at all age groups, and the incidence has doub- led in the last 10 years.”

davidhiggerson