ACS

ACS Public Affairs Director Shane Brennan has spoken to organisations involved in the Kent Community Alcohol Partnership. He outlined the benefits of partnership working and his concern that new Government proposals for a mandatory code of practice for alcohol will undermine the progress that is being made tackling problem drinking in communities.

Community Alcohol Partnerships (CAPs) are co-ordinated by the Retail Alcohol Standards Group (RASG), of which ACS is a member. CAPs involve retailers, local authorities and the police working together to tackle underage drinking by partnership working, attempting to improve education, public perception and enforcement. This includes confiscating alcohol from young people and challenging proxy purchasers, rather than solely targeting retailers.

In Kent there was also a co-ordinated education campaign carried out in the local school and among parents. The campaign has received significant praise from the Home Office.

Shane Brennan said: “Previous Community Alcohol Projects, such as St Neots, Cambridgeshire, demonstrate what can be achieved when retailers work in partnership with their local authorities. Rolling CAPs out countywide is a really exciting progression and ACS hopes to see many more such schemes in the future.

“CAPs and other forms of partnership working are proven to be effective. If the mandatory code becomes law, councils will have the power to impose restrictions on retailers as they see fit, which could cut across agreements made in any CAP and in doing so undermine the progress being made. This will cause more tension between the retail and enforcement communities.

“Adequate laws are already in place to tackle irresponsible retailers; any new regulations will place burdens on retailers who are acting responsibly.”