Bath & North East Somerset Council is backing the Local Government Association’s call for public health to become an objective of the Licensing Act.
The LGA, which represents councils across England and Wales, believes that the new objective will allow councils to take account of health-related evidence, such as ambulance call-out data and hospital admissions relating to particular premises or areas when ruling on licences.
Cllr David Dixon, Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “We are supporting the LGA’s call for a new licensing objective in the Licensing Act to protect and improve public health.
“This would enable us to take a very much more informed view on licence decisions and help us balance our public health duties with our other priorities such as creating vibrant and safe town centres and protecting children from harm.”
Cllr Manda Rigby, Chair of the Council’s Licensing Committee, said: “Currently when a new premises alcohol license application or a license review comes to the Licensing committee, we are limited to taking the current four licensing objectives into account when making our decision.
“We would welcome being able to take protecting and improving public health as a further criterion.”
In Bath & North East Somerset:
- 24% of the adult population is estimated to be drinking at increasing or high risk levels, similar to national estimates.
- The estimated number of people dependent on alcohol is 6,854 (aged 18 – 64).
- 388 people accessed treatment for alcohol misuse during 2012/13, representing 5.7% of the estimated population of dependent drinkers.
- Hospital admissions for alcohol related conditions are rising on average 12% per year since 2002/3, although they remain lower than regional and national rates.
- People living in the most deprived areas of Bath and North East Somerset are significantly more likely to be admitted for an alcohol-related condition than those living in the least deprived areas.
- Bath and North East Somerset has significantly higher rates of under 18s admitted to hospital for alcohol specific conditions than nationally.
In October 2013 the Council held an Alcohol Scrutiny Enquiry Day which brought together 68 key stakeholders to debate how best to reduce alcohol misuse in the area.
Cllr Vic Pritchard, chairman of the Council’s Wellbeing Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel, which organised the day, said: “Participants, including local voluntary and community bodies, felt strongly that there needed to be more emphasis on the prevention of alcohol harm and called for the protection and promotion of public health through the licensing process.”
