Growing concern over
spread of under-age binge drinking
across North East Cambridgeshire
New
figures show children at harm, with
drink fuelling yob behaviour
Malcolm Moss, MP for
North East Cambridgeshire, this week
expressed his concern about
official figures which have revealed not
only a growing number of under-age
drinkers are being admitted to hospital,
but also that the laws against under-age
drinking are not being properly
enforced.
This disturbing news
coincides with the report from Crime
Concern which has found that “drinking
to get drunk is starting younger with
serious consequences to health and
crime”. Almost four in ten young people
now start drinking at the age of 13, and
half of their parents turning a blind
eye.
Figures – unearthed
by the Conservatives in Parliament –
reveal that under-age children who break
the law by buying alcohol illegally are
not being held to account. Fewer than a
hundred individuals a year are punished
for trying to buy alcohol illegally.
In the Strategic
Health Authority Area covering North
East Cambridgeshire, the number of under
18’s admitted to A&E departments has
risen from 207 in 2000 to 497 in 2006
but national statistics show that
despite this increase, in the entire
country;
Just 10 people aged
10-17 were proceeded against at
magistrates courts for purchasing
alcohol illegally in 2006.
The number of
offenders under-18 cautioned for
illegally buying alcohol was only 13 in
2006.
Just 62 young people
aged 16 and 17 received a Penalty Notice
for purchasing alcohol illegally in
2006.
The growing number of
children being hospitalised due to
alcohol misuse is not exclusive to North
East Cambridgeshire. Across the country
a whole, there has been an increase of
40 per cent since 2000.
Malcolm Moss MP
said:
“Under-age drinking
harms young people and fuels youth crime
and anti-social behaviour. Labour
Ministers talk endlessly about cracking
down on alcohol-related violence, but
these new figures expose the
Government’s complacency.
“There are already
laws and sanctions in place. The
Government’s failure to enforce the law
sends totally the wrong message about
under-age drinking and is adding to
public concern about yob behaviour and
crime. We also need greater social
responsibility, and an end to some
parents turning a blind eye to their
children’s drinking. Increasing social
responsibility is at the heart of David
Cameron’s plans to make Britain safer
and stonger.”
Notes to Editors
CRIME CONCERN REPORT ON UNDER-AGE BINGE
DRINKING
A report published by Crime Concern
revealed the extent of under-age binge
drinking.
The survey of 10-19 years olds found
that 42 per cent began drinking when
they were 13 or under, and 29 per cent
said they drink to get drunk. Half of
the young people surveyed had been
involved in fighting, violence and
aggression as a result of drinking. In
addition, 50 per cent of parents were
reported to condone or not care about
their children’s drinking.
Crime Concern, Binge drinking: young
people’s attitudes and behaviour, 23
January 2008.
http://www.crimeconcern.org.uk/index.asp?m=24&c=1328
SOARING NUMBER OF UNDER-AGE DRINKERS IN
A&E
New answers to Parliamentary Questions
have revealed a worrying rise in the
number of under-age people admitted to
hospital due to their drinking.
The number of under-18s hospitalised for
alcohol misuse has increased by nearly
40 per cent since 2000. Last year, 8,245
under-18s were admitted to hospital via
A&E for alcohol misuse.
Hansard,
8 January 2008, col. 461W.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080108/text/80108w0024.htm#column_461W
http://www.parliament.uk/deposits/depositedpapers/2008/DEP2008-0046.doc
The figures below provide figures by
Strategic Health Authority for A&E
admissions for those under-18. SHA
boundaries are different now compared to
those in 2000.
|
Strategic Health Authority
(under 18s) |
2000-01 |
|
Strategic Health Authority
(under 18s) |
2006-07 |
|
Norfolk, Suffolk And
Cambridgeshire HA |
207 |
|
North East Strategic Health
Authority |
642 |
|
Bedfordshire And Hertfordshire
HA |
135 |
|
North West Strategic Health
Authority |
2024 |
|
Essex HA |
90 |
|
Yorkshire And The Humber
Strategic Health Authority |
860 |
|
North West London HA |
69 |
|
East Midlands Strategic Health
Authority |
518 |
|
North Central London HA |
63 |
|
West Midlands Strategic Health
Authority |
959 |
|
North East London HA |
42 |
|
East Of England Strategic Health
Authority |
497 |
|
South East London HA |
72 |
|
London Strategic Health
Authority |
658 |
|
South West London HA |
114 |
|
South East Coast Strategic
Health Authority |
596 |
|
Northumberland, Tyne & Wear HA |
324 |
|
South Central Strategic Health
Authority |
489 |
|
County Durham And Tees Valley HA |
316 |
|
South West Strategic Health
Authority |
829 |
|
North And East Yorkshire And
Northern Lincolnshire HA |
285 |
|
Wales |
37 |
|
West Yorkshire HA |
267 |
|
Scotland |
2 |
|
Cumbria And Lancashire HA |
335 |
|
England - Not Otherwise
Specified |
31 |
|
Greater Manchester HA |
445 |
|
Foreign (Incl. Isle Of Man &
Channel Islands) |
17 |
|
Cheshire & Merseyside HA |
466 |
|
Unknown |
86 |
|
Thames Valley HA |
116 |
|
Northern Ireland
|
|
|
Hampshire And Isle Of Wight HA |
176 |
|
|
|
|
Kent And Medway HA |
126 |
|
|
|
|
Surrey And Sussex HA |
297 |
|
|
|
|
Avon, Gloucestershire And
Wiltshire HA |
164 |
|
|
|
|
South West Peninsula HA |
172 |
|
|
|
|
Dorset And Somerset HA |
125 |
|
|
|
|
South Yorkshire HA |
223 |
|
|
|
|
Trent HA |
377 |
|
|
|
|
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire
And Rutland HA |
129 |
|
|
|
|
Shropshire And Staffordshire HA |
168 |
|
|
|
|
Birmingham And The Black Country
HA |
329 |
|
|
|
|
Coventry, Warwickshire,
Herefordshire And
Worcestershire HA |
249 |
|
|
|
|
Scotland |
3 |
|
|
|
|
England - Not Otherwise
Specified |
21 |
|
|
|
|
Wales |
21 |
|
|
|
|
Foreign (Incl. Isle Of Man &
Channel Islands) |
11 |
|
|
|
|
Not Known |
44 |
|
|
|
|
Northern Ireland
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
5,981 |
|
Total |
8,245 |
MINIMAL ENFORCEMENT OF DRINKING LAWS
The tables below from recent
Parliamentary Questions show the lack of
enforcement action to tackle under-age
drinking.
Just 10 people aged 10-17 were proceeded
against at magistrates courts for
purchasing alcohol illegally in 2006.
The number of offenders under-18
cautioned for illegally buying alcohol
was only 13 in 2006.
Just 62 young people aged 16 and 17
received a Penalty Notice for purchasing
alcohol illegally in 2006.
Source: Hansard, 12 December
2007, col. 667W.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm071212/text/71212w0023.htm
There are three tables for (a)
proceedings in the magistrates court,
(b) cautions and (c) penalty notices.
|
|
Under-age defendants
proceeded against at
magistrates courts for
purchasing alcohol illegally |
|
Police force area |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
|
|
10-13yr |
14-15 |
16-17 |
10-13 |
14-15 |
16-17 |
10-13 |
14-15 |
16-17 |
|
Cheshire |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
Cleveland |
— |
— |
1 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
Cumbria |
— |
— |
1 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
2 |
|
Devon and Cornwall |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
1 |
|
Dorset |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
Durham |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
