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£1.4 MILLION CRACKDOWN ON TEENAGE SUMMER BINGE DRINKING
17 June 2009- CALL TO ACTION ON ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR - Ed Balls is today launching a nationwide crackdown on teenage binge drinking during the summer holidays, with up to £1.4 million of new cash for 69 youth crime priority areas. This is in addition to the £350,000 that each area is receiving this year to tackle anti-social behaviour and youth crime. The new crackdown is responding to feedback from police and youth services who say that alcohol remains a major factor influencing low level youth crime and anti-social behaviour. Children’s services and police are being asked to work together to stop and prevent alcohol influenced anti-social behaviour.Local areas are being asked to submit a three-point plan to show how they will take forward a range of prevention and enforcement activity, using the new money, which must include:
• Tough enforcement - confiscating alcohol, using dispersal powers to break up groups of young people getting drunk and causing trouble and behaviour contracts to hold them to account;
• Early intervention and support – giving young people one-to-one support, and youth services working with families to address underlying reasons for young people’s behaviour, using parenting contracts and orders to support parents;
• Communicating to the local community – making it clear to the public what is being done to tackle drunk and disorderly behaviour by young people.This is alongside the Government’s strategy to prevent anti-social behaviour by giving young people a say in the activities on offer in their areas, at the times and places that they want and need them, including on Friday and Saturday nights. Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families said:“We know that during the summer holidays as the evenings get longer more young people want to spend time outside with their friends. The majority of young people are law-abiding and make a positive contribution to their communities. However, when alcohol is a factor we know that some young people’s behaviour can get out of control and this can lead to anti-social behaviour. Communities should not have to put up with this. “That’s why we are determined to keep up the pressure on local areas so that they crackdown on teenage drinking at all times, but especially during the summer months. Some areas are better than others at using enforcement powers – but we know with the right combination of tough action on unacceptable or illegal behaviour, and support and prevention for young people at risk of getting into trouble, areas can make real progress tackling this complicated and difficult problem. “We must give young people the help they need to prevent offending behaviour in the future and tackle the causes of their irresponsible drinking. With the support of the Youth Taskforce many areas are helping thousands of vulnerable young people get back on track. And our Youth Alcohol Action Plan sets out the action we are taking to help young people to drink safely and responsibly.”Alan Johnson, Home Secretary said:"I am committed to tackling underage drinking. Alcohol, especially in the summer, is one of the main drivers of low level youth crime and antisocial behaviour in our communities and this money will help local authorities and police to combat the problem through a mixture of education, enforcement and cooperation with business.
“This targeted funding compliments the £24.1m handed to the 69 YCAP areas earlier this month; our latest hard hitting advertising campaign, Know Your Limits, which confronts young people with the reality of their drunken behaviour; and an ongoing 12 week public consultation on the proposed mandatory code of conduct for alcohol retailers.“Drinking alcohol is never an excuse for causing harm and distress to others and we will continue to ensure the police and courts have all the tools and powers they need to swiftly bring the irresponsible minority to account. Overall, alcohol-related violence has fallen by around a third since 1995 but, as this funding shows, we are not complacent.” Chief Constable Ian Mcpherson, youth lead for the Association of Chief Police Officers said:“Ensuring that young people get the support they need when they get in trouble must be a fundamental part of our approach to tackling youth crime. The summer alcohol drive is a positive way to bring agencies together to create safer communities.”The crackdown on summer drinking comes as the Youth Taskforce publishes its Progress Report, which showcases the pioneering work across the country over the last year to prevent and tackle the underlying causes of anti-social behaviour. The Youth Taskforce has been working with local areas to coordinate enforcement activity with prevention and intervention services so that the most vulnerable young people are helped to turn their lives around.Progress over the last year includes:• 95 per cent of local authorities have now implemented the Targeted Youth Support reforms meaning that young people at risk are assessed by support services at the earliest possible opportunity;
• Since summer 2008 around 200 young people have received one-to-one support from a youth worker through Intensive Intervention Projects;
• Between September 2008 and April 2009 nearly 8,000 young people and families benefitted from Challenge and Support projects in 52 areas. The projects ensure that young people who are issued with ASBOs or ABCs are given follow-up support from a mentor to address the causes of their behaviour and prevent them entering the criminal justice system.As well as reducing anti-social behaviour, the interventions have improved family relationships, school attendance, and young people’s involvement in youth activities and reduced homelessness and substance misuse.We know that the issue of young people and alcohol is complicated and we want young people to grow up with a safe and responsible attitude to alcohol. The Youth Alcohol Action Plan (YAAP) was developed last year and has taken forward the following action: • Making it unacceptable for young people under 18 to be drinking unsupervised in public places;
• Making it easier for the police to confiscate alcohol from young people;
• Introducing clear medical guidance by the Chief Medical Officer on alcohol consumption by young people;
• Introducing tougher laws to tackle shops and off-licences that sell alcohol to young people;
• Launching a social marketing campaign aimed at parents and young people to highlight the risks of drinking to young people’s health and safety.Ed Balls, Alan Johnson and Children’s Minister Dawn Primarolo will tomorrow hear from 50 professionals working with young people and celebrate their achievements in tackling anti-social behaviour.
Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to 'England'
1. Between 2009/10 69 youth crime priority areas have each received £350,000 funding to deliver all seven elements of the intensive package: Operation Staysafe, After School Patrols, Street based teams, Reparation in leisure time, Youth Offending Team worker in custody suite, Family Intervention Projects and Think Family. 2. The Youth Crime Action Plan highlighted ways that local areas can use a range of activity like Operation Staysafe, After School Patrols and street based teams to tackle the problem of anti-social behaviour. A significant number of young people coming into contact with street based teams and on Operation Staysafe weekends are referred to alcohol and substance misuse services.3. The OPEN Weekend of Friday 10th and Saturday 11th July is a milestone by which time we are asking local authorities to improve the provision of activities for young people on Friday and Saturday nights. 4. The Government has invested over £270 million in new world class youth centres through myplace. This is part of the £679m provided for Aiming High, to increase positive activities and facilities for young people.5. Local areas can use a range of enforcement powers to tackle anti-social behaviour including: Acceptable Behaviour Contracts / Agreements (ABCs) - a written agreement by a young person to acknowledge their anti-social behaviour and its effect on others. The individual may also have to agree to engage in a community group, or attend a local youth diversion scheme.Individual Support Orders (ISOs) - an order than can accompany an ASBO, requiring a young person to deal with the underlying causes of their anti-social behaviour. This could include things like anger management or drug treatment, or attending youth activities. Failure to engage with this support counts as a breach of the ASBO – which is a criminal offence. Magistrate's courts are required to consider the use of ISOs when issuing an ASBO to a young person. The court is then required to record their decision if they choose not to grant the ISO, to evidence their decision and determine what other ‘appropriate support’ is in place. Designated Public Places Orders – failure to comply with a police officer's requests to stop drinking and surrender alcohol without reasonable excuse is an offence. Once a DPPO is in place the police can use their confiscation powers to enforce the restriction. DPPOs have been used across the country in areas ranging from a single street or park, to town centre or city-wide areas.Dispersal orders - police have powers to break up large groups of young people who are intimidating communities, to help remove anti-social behaviour from their streets. This area could be as small as a cashpoint or shopping arcade where groups often gather, or it could be as wide as a whole local authority area, as long as there is evidence of anti-social behaviour. This can then last for up to six months and can be renewed if necessary. The police can: disperse groups, where the relevant officer has reasonable grounds for believing that their presence or behaviour has resulted, or is likely to result, in a member of the public being harassed, intimidated, alarmed or distressed; and return to their home young people under 16, who were out on the streets after 9pm and not under the control of an adult, if they are either at risk from anti-social behaviour, crime, etc. or causing it. These powers should always be used alongside positive action like publicising positive activities or providing new ones, so that the problem is not simply moved to a new area.6. The 69 areas that will receive a share of the £1.4 million are:North East
Darlington
Durham
Gateshead
Hartlepool
Middlesbrough
Newcastle upon Tyne
North Tyneside
Redcar and Cleveland
South Tyneside
Stockton-on-Tees
SunderlandNorth West
Blackburn with Darwen
Blackpool
Bolton
Halton
Knowsley
Lancashire
Liverpool
Manchester
Oldham
Rochdale
Salford
St. Helens
Tameside
Trafford
Wigan
WirralYorkshire & Humberside
Barnsley
Bradford
Doncaster
Kingston Upon Hull, City of
Kirklees
Leeds
North East Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire
Rotherham
Sheffield
WakefieldEast Midlands
Derby
Leicester
NottinghamWest Midlands
Birmingham
Coventry
Sandwell
Stoke-on-Trent
WalsallEast
Peterborough
Southend on SeaLondon
Barking & Dagenham
Camden
Hackney
Hammersmith and Fulham
Haringey
Islington
Lambeth
Lewisham
Newham
Southwark
Tower Hamlets
Croydon
GreenwichSouth East
Brighton and Hove
Portsmouth
Slough
SouthamptonSouth West
Bournemouth
Bristol, City of
Plymouth
TorbayContact Details
Public Enquiries 0870 000 2288, info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
Press Notice 2009/0112
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