Local initiatives to tackle street drinking have the potential to make the local area safer, and to reduce alcohol harm. However, they also have the potential to place retailers at risk of breaching competition law, and if conducted in the wrong way, initiatives can be burdensome for retailers without tackling the problems they were designed to address.
This guidance is designed to help convenience retailers manage their relationship with local authorities and to understand the competition risks of working with local authorities to deliver local initiatives, commonly known as ‘Reducing the Strength’ initiatives.
‘Reducing the Strength’ initiatives are local initiatives led by local authorities designed to tackle alcohol related harm associated with street drinking. As well as other measures to tackle street drinking, these initiatives attempt to remove high-strength alcohol products from sale through changes to a premise licences or more often through voluntary agreements with a retailer.
