‘A true partner around the table?’ Perceptions of how to strengthen public health’s contributions to the alcohol licensing process

Reynolds, Joanna; McGrath, Michael; Engen, Jessica; Pashmi, Ghazaleh; Andrews, Matt; Sharpe, Carolyn A; Egan, Matt; Lim, Jin Seok; Lock, Karen

doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdy093

Cited by 12 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Although it may be that the activities of PHTs do not materially change local alcohol licensing policies and decisions at all, we have accumulated extensive qualitative data in the ExILEnS study suggesting that this is unlikely to be the case. 18 This is also supported by other qualitative studies, including 19 , 20 , 21 and by reviews of statements of licensing policy in Scotland. 22 It may simply be that the extent of public health influence was not substantial enough to lead to changes in harms of a detectable magnitude.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Impact of public health team engagement in alcohol licensing on health and crime outcomes in England and Scotland: A comparative timeseries study between 2012 and 2019

Vocht¹,

McQuire²,

Ferraro³

et al. 2022

The Lancet Regional Health - Europe

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Impact of public health team engagement in alcohol licensing on health and crime outcomes in England and Scotland: A comparative timeseries study between 2012 and 2019

Vocht¹,

McQuire²,

Ferraro³

et al. 2022

The Lancet Regional Health - Europe

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“…Nationally, public health ambitions to mitigate alcohol-related harm by restricting potentially harmful applications and fostering a diverse alcohol-economy have been hampered by a lack of primary research and evidence-based policies. 35–37 This study demonstrates that alcohol availability from drinking establishments is associated with an increase in ARV and that licensing ‘other’ outlets is associated with the reverse effect. The varying associations between outlet type and ARV provide public health stakeholders with an evidence base upon which to advocate for licensing policies that diversify alcohol availability.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…These policies have mixed effectiveness 22 31–34 and additional public health data to support licensing decisions are needed. 35–37…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observational study of the association between diverse licensed premises types and alcohol-related violence in an inner-London borough

Boshari

Sharpe

Poots

et al. 2020

J Epidemiol Community Health

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BackgroundAn ecological correlation has been observed between licensed premises and alcohol-related violence (ARV). In the UK to date, no evidence directly connects alcohol-related harm to a single premises type. Recent policies have called for a diversified alcohol offer, yet quantitative evidence in support remains sparse. This study aims to inform policy by determining whether diversification of the alcohol economy is desirable and to inform the licensing process and submission of public health evidence.MethodsUsing 11 years of local licensing data from the London Borough of Southwark, alcohol availability over time was approximated by the number of extant alcohol licences, categorised by outlet type: drinking establishments, eateries, takeaways, off-sales and ‘other’. Harm was quantified drawing on law enforcement intelligence that recorded ARV. A linked data set was analysed using negative binomial regression, contrasting cumulative impact zones (CIZ)—a common alcohol control policy—with non-CIZ geographies.ResultsEach licensed drinking establishment was associated with a 1.6% (95% CI 0.7% to 2.6%; p=0.001) increase in ARV, respectively. ‘Other’ outlets had a protective effect and were associated with a 1.8% (95% CI 1.0% to 2.5%; p<0.001) decrease in ARV.ConclusionThis study provides direct evidence for an association between alcohol-related harm and licensed premises. The varying associations between outlet type and ARV provide local public health stakeholders with an evidence base upon which to advocate for licensing policies that diversify alcohol availability.

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“…The challenges for local communities to carve out and exercise this role should not be underestimated. For instance, as RAs, even professional public health teams in England identified a perceived ‘lack of status’ in the licensing process as a barrier ( Reynolds et al., 2019 ). Public health practitioners reported feeling unable to ‘go it alone’, perceiving their representations carried weight at a licensing committee hearing only when representations were also made by other RAs ( Reynolds et al., 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How can communities influence alcohol licensing at a local level? Licensing officers’ perspectives of the barriers and facilitators to sustaining engagement in a volunteer-led alcohol harm reduction approach

Ure

Burns

Hargreaves

et al. 2021

International Journal of Drug Policy

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Despite the World Health Organization's assertion that communities need to become involved in reducing alcohol harm, evidence of community engagement in alcohol licensing decision-making in England remains limited. The evaluation of the Communities in Charge of Alcohol (CICA) programme offers policymakers, Licensing authorities and public health practitioners, evidence regarding a specific volunteer-led, place-based approach, designed to enable community engagement in licensing with the aim of reducing localised alcohol harm. This study explored factors affecting the sustainable involvement of volunteers in alcohol licensing decision-making from six licensing officers' perspectives, through semi-structured interviews. Routinely collected crime, disorder, and hospital admissions data were reviewed for further context as proxy indicators for alcohol-related harm. Licensing officers perceived sustainable engagement to be impacted by: (i) the extent of alignment with statutory requirements and local political support; (ii) the ability of licensing officers to operationalise CICA and support local assets, and; (iii) the opportunity for, and ability of, volunteers to raise licensing issues. The perspectives of licensing officers indicate complexities inherent in seeking to empower residents to engage in licensing decision-making at a community level. These relate to statutory and political factors, funding, social norms regarding engagement in licensing decision-making, and the need for networks between critical actors including responsible authorities and communities. The evidence indicates that after increasing community capacity to influence alcohol availability decision-making at a local level, communities continue to struggle to influence statutory processes to affect alcohol availability where they live and work. More understanding of how to enable effective community engagement is required.

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‘A true partner around the table?’ Perceptions of how to strengthen public health’s contributions to the alcohol licensing process

Cited by 12 publications

References 17 publications

Impact of public health team engagement in alcohol licensing on health and crime outcomes in England and Scotland: A comparative timeseries study between 2012 and 2019

Impact of public health team engagement in alcohol licensing on health and crime outcomes in England and Scotland: A comparative timeseries study between 2012 and 2019

Observational study of the association between diverse licensed premises types and alcohol-related violence in an inner-London borough

How can communities influence alcohol licensing at a local level? Licensing officers’ perspectives of the barriers and facilitators to sustaining engagement in a volunteer-led alcohol harm reduction approach

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