Over-Provision of alcohol in Dundee?

On 16 January 2014 Dundee City Licensing Board was provided with an Overprovision Submission by Dundee City Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP).

The full assessment of overprovision including a statement can be found here. The ADP suggested that there is an over-provision of alcohol in the city, which is causing both crime and health issues.

Based on the assessment, the ADP has recommended that the Dundee Licensing Board Policy for 2013 – 2016 should contain an overprovision statement. Once an overprovision statement has been established in the City, all future alcohol licences should then be refused unless an applicant can demonstrate that a new licence or licensing extension will not contribute to overprovision.

Key finding of the submission include:

• Overall, the number of premises licences has increased by 9.9% in the four year period 2009/10 to 2012/13 with off-sales licences increasing by 24.5% and on-sales by 13.6%.
• Of all the youngsters who had ever had an alcoholic drink, 46% of those aged 13 years and 63% of those aged 15 years had purchased alcohol themselves.
• The most significant source of alcohol for under-age young people was older friends, relatives, and sometimes strangers, who were commonly reported to buy alcohol for the teenagers.
• Of those who had ever had an alcoholic drink, 64% of 13 year olds and 77% of 15 year olds had been drunk at least once.
• The mean number of units drunk weekly by men and women in Tayside was 14.9 and 7.7 respectively. In addition, 15% of men and 11% of women were drinking on more than 5 days of the week in Tayside.
• In 2012, there were 1,625 alcohol related attendances to A&E by Dundee City residents, a rate of 1,116 per 100,000 of the general population.
• Alcohol is an aggravator in a large percentage of crimes. In Dundee in 2012/13, there were 1,377 alcohol related incidents, a rate of 95 per 10,000 population.
• The highest number and rate of alcohol related offences were for petty assault, vandalism and breach of the peace. Although a far smaller number of offences for serious assault were recorded, alcohol was thought to be an aggravator in 69.4% of the incidents.
• In 2010, the estimated total cost of alcohol related harm in Dundee City was £71.05m however this excludes wider social costs which are more difficult to measure.
• The estimated overall cost per head of alcohol related harm in Dundee City in 2010/11 was £492.