ACS

A Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP), the pioneering project to curb underage alcohol sales and combat associated anti-social behaviour, is today launched in Kent.

The partnership is backed by the Retail of Alcohol Standards Group and Kent County Council and follows successful roll-out of the project model in Cambridgeshire.

The Kent Community Alcohol Partnership (KCAP) brings together local authorities, alcohol retailers, police and health authorities to drive down underage alcohol sales and possession and improve the health and education of young people in relation to alcohol.

Three target areas have been selected to pilot KCAP before it is rolled out throughout the county - Canterbury City Centre, an urban estate in Thanet and the suburb of Edenbridge.

The launch in Kent coincides with the publication of a toolkit by RASG designed to help front-line practitioners develop Community Alcohol Partnerships in their own area. The toolkit has a foreword by Home Office Minister Alan Campbell MP, endorsing the scheme.

The guide includes model letters, leaflets and case studies that can be adapted for use by local CAPs to help them introduce partnership working in a cost effective way and ensure support across the community.

Nick Grant, Chairman of RASG, said: “Experience shows that collaboration can help tackle underage drinking and KCAP takes it to the next level, involving local health authorities for the first time to address the health impact of alcohol consumption by young people. We’re delighted to be involved in this partnership and look forward to working together to curb underage alcohol sales and possession.”

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said: “Government, police and industry have delivered some real progress in working together to tackle alcohol related crime and disorder – the failure rate for persistent test purchases has fallen from 34 per cent to 15 per cent since the end of 2006. That is why I fully support the Kent Community Alcohol Partnership (KCAP) bringing together local authorities, alcohol retailers, police and health authorities to drive down underage alcohol sales and possession, and improve the health and education of young people in relation to drinking alcohol.

“We need to ensure that all licensed premises comply with the law, and the Community Alcohol Partnership toolkit will help ensure that retailers stay on the right track.”

Amanda Honey, Managing Director of Communities for Kent County Council, said: “To reduce underage drinking and to make a difference we need to work together with those who sell alcohol to better understand the problems they face and try to deal with them. The knock-on effects of binge drinking to individuals and local communities can be severe and together we can bring about a change in attitudes and behaviour.”

Mike Fuller, Kent Police Chief Constable, said: “We know that in Kent, in the last financial year, 6046 people were arrested for alcohol related offences and over 400 of these were young people. I am hopeful that by working with our key partners, using not only enforcement but also preventative activity, we can make a positive step towards a change in young people’s attitudes towards binge-drinking, and therefore, an improvement in behaviour and a reduction in disorder incidents within our communities”