Abstract
Excessive alcohol consumption leads to negative health and social impacts at individual and population levels. Interventions that aim to limit the density of alcohol retail premises (including cumulative impact policies (CIPs)) have been associated with decreases in alcohol-related crime and alcohol-related hospital admissions. We evaluated the quantitative impact of introducing a new alcohol licensing policy that included a comprehensive Cumulative Impact Policy (CIP) enforced in seven Cumulative Impact Zones (CIZs) in one English Local Authority in 2013. We used time series analysis to assess immediate and longer term impacts on licensing decisions and intermediate outcomes, including spatial and temporal alcohol availability, crime, alcohol-related ambulance call-outs and on-licence alcohol retail sales across the Local Authority and in CIZs and non-CIZs during the period 2008 to 2016. We found no impact on licence application rates but post-intervention applications involved fewer trading hours. Application approvals declined initially but not over the longer term. Longer term, small reductions in units of alcohol sold in bars (−2060, 95% confidence interval (CI) = −3033, −1087) were observed in areas with more intensive licensing policies (‘Cumulative Impact Zones’ (CIZs)). Significant initial declines in overall crime rates (CIZs = −12.2%, 95% CI = −18.0%, −6.1%; non-CIZs = −8.0%, 95% CI = −14.0%, −1.6%) were only partially reversed by small, longer term increases. Ambulance callout rates did not change significantly. The intervention was partially successful but a more intensive and sustained implementation may be necessary for longer term benefits.
Highlights
Alcohol accounts for 5.1% of the global burden of disease and 5.9% of deaths worldwide.[1]
We studied the impact of Statement of Licencing Policy (SLP)-Cumulative Impact Policy (CIP) on temporal availability using average weekly trading hours of all granted applications based on opening and closing times of premises
Characteristics of data A total of 752 alcohol licence applications were made in the Local Authority area between April 2008 and June 2016, of which 697 (92.7%) had data on decision outcomes and typology (Appendix 4, Figure S4)
Summary
Alcohol accounts for 5.1% of the global burden of disease and 5.9% of deaths worldwide.[1]. The mechanisms for modifying alcohol availability differ by jurisdiction but many countries implement some form of licensing system – often regulated at a regional or local level, and often differentiating between licences to sell alcohol for on-premise and for off-premise consumption (in the UK, called ‘on-licences’ and ‘off-licences’).[9, 12,13,14] For many of the world’s high alcohol consuming populations, including countries in Europe, Australasia and North America, licensing is an important lever for reducing alcohol availability.[1, 15] There is evidence that reduced availability leads to reductions in consumption and harm.[2, 16, 17] Licensing restrictions have increasingly attracted public health interest for preventing alcohol harms at a populations level
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
