Alcohol misuse (health and wellbeing needs in South Tyneside)

• A recent PHE publication Why Invest, sets out what needs to be done to reduce the harms caused by alcohol. These are:
  • Improve awareness of alcohol harm among young people and delay the age of first use
  • For people who drink, make lower risk drinking the norm and an easy choice to make
  • Target those who are most at risk
  • Respond to and reduce the harm experienced by those who have already developed problems
• These are largely in line with the aim of South Tyneside's most recent Alcohol Strategy (2013 - 2016), to prevent, minimise and respond to the harmful behaviours and consequences associated with alcohol misuse to individuals, families and communities in South Tyneside.
• At a local level Balance, the alcohol office for the North east, is working with local authorities across the North East to encourage people to reduce their consumption which in turn will reduce the impact that alcohol is having on our region and locally. We will support Balance in three key areas of activity:
• Educating and informing - giving people the information and support to be able to make informed choices related to alcohol
• Sharing  best practice - looking at successful projects or ways of working that is having a positive impact
• Calling on Government for Change - such as lobbying for Minimum Unit Pricing and adopting evidence based measures which will reduce the harm caused by alcohol misuse

Local opportunities

• South Tyneside Council has an ambition to be an outstanding place to live, invest and bring up families and is preparing a new Local Plan to help it achieve this vision. The Plan will set the planning policy basis for assessing all planning applications and development proposals in the Borough, and as such this presents an opportunity to make a positive impact on issues around licensing, for instance which can help minimise the harm caused by alcohol misuse.
• The Children and Families Board has refreshed and re-launched its Best Start in Life Strategy. This has three key priorities:
  • Safer and stronger families
  • Enterprise Learning and Skills
  • Healthier Communities
• This strategy presents a real opportunity to be clear in addressing what South Tyneside could look like if the local population is supported to drink less alcohol.

• A recent Best Start in Life Conference was held by Balance exploring the impact of alcohol in childhood. More children in the North East and nationally are choosing not to drink alcohol, however Balance estimates that in the North East around 16,500 11 - 15 year olds drink on a regular basis and 9,300 have been drunk in the previous month.
• A survey of North East adults found that many believe providing children with alcohol can help them handle drinking when they're older. However, a separate survey with children suggests a stark difference between the myths and the reality.
• Over half (54%) of adults believe providing children with alcohol in a supervised situation will ensure they know how to handle drinking when they're older. Yet a separate survey with children found:
• Children aged 11 - 15 are four times more likely to be an "at risk" drinker if their parents allowed them to drink alcohol.
• The same survey of 11 - 15 year olds also found that 87% of children whose parents DO NOT allow them to drink choose not to - including 76% of Year 10s .
• Drinking alcohol can damage a child's health, even if they're 15 or older, affecting normal development of vital organs and functions, including the brain, liver, bones and hormones. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) guidance states that children who start drinking alcohol at an early age are more likely to develop alcohol problems in adolescence and adulthood. This is why CMO guidance recommends to children and their parents that an alcohol-free childhood is the healthiest and best option, and if children drink alcohol, it should not be until at least the age of 15 years.
• Learning from the conference will feed into local work focussing on alcohol in pregnancy and childhood so that people are aware of the guidelines and messages given to pregnant women.   

Identification and prevention

• Continue to support co-ordinated regional approaches to lobbying via Balance and advocate reducing alcohol-related harm through national, regional and local policies.
• Ensure interventions such as media campaigns and health education programmes are delivered in both universal (schools and workplaces) and targeted settings to increase knowledge and change attitudes to alcohol
• Ensure there is a clear understanding of the objectives around Making Every Contact Count relative to alcohol awareness and supporting behaviour change within the local population

Intervention and treatment

• Monitor, review and evaluate the delivery, quality and effectiveness of training
• Ensure pathways into treatment are robust and that information is made available to service providers and local residents, to identify and treat alcohol dependence as soon as possible

Licensing

• Continue working closely with the licensing department to help inform licensing reviews from a Public Health perspective
• Contribute to future updates and revisions of the Statement of Licensing Act Policy ensuring relevant health data recorded to support the development of the policy  

Crime and disorder

• Consider the priorities and the relationship to alcohol related crime, taking a partnership approach to deliver key actions in the Community Safety Plan