Alcohol laws have not fuelled crime

24-hour drinking has ‘eased’ disorder
ALCOHOL-RELATED disorder in Oldham has eased as a result of the 24-hour drinking laws, according to the borough’s head of trading standards.

This view is at odds with a new report which claimed the laws had cost council taxpayers £100 million and failed to cut drink-related crime nationwide.

The survey by the Local Government Association (LGA) said seven out of 10 police authorities, primary care trusts (PCTs) and councils had seen incidents rise or stay the same.

Almost one in three primary care trusts reported an increase in problems, while Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the LGA, said the new drink laws had made no impact on reducing alcohol-related violence.

However, Oldham Trading Standards said it had seen no rise in alcohol-related crime and the legislation had stopped the kicking-out time culture.

Tony Allen, Trading Standards and licensing group Manager, said: “Since the Licensing Act 2003 came into force in November, 2005, the council and its partners have not identified any rise in the levels of alcohol-related crime in Oldham.

“The impact of the legislation in Oldham seems to be alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour being ‘spread out’ over wider areas at different times.

“To this extent, the legislation has eradicated issues traditionally associated with customers leaving pubs just after last orders.

“We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the legislation and report back to all relevant partners and organisations.”

A spokeswoman for Oldham Primary Care Trust said: “We’re not aware of any formal local evaluation to clearly indicate the impact of the change in licensing hours.”

Russell Bernstein, deputy chief executive for the Greater Manchester Police Authority, said: “As a police authority our priority is to ensure communities such as Oldham receive a high quality, value for money police service at all times.

“We closely monitor Greater Manchester Police performance to make sure this happens and local people can rest assured that regardless of what changes we face as a result of factors such as changes in legislation, we are well equipped to do just that.”