Balance response to the Local Alcohol Profiles for England
Balance, the North East Alcohol Office, welcomes statistics which show that the level of alcohol attributable crime has fallen significantly in the North East over the last year, making it the lowest in the UK.
The office says this is recognition of the great work being carried out by the region’s police forces, health trusts, local authorities and other agencies involved in tackling alcohol misuse.
To build on this success, Sue Taylor, Partnerships Manager at Balance, says that partners should continue working together to tackle the harms caused by alcohol misuse.
“With two thirds of all local authorities suffering the highest levels of overall harms being in the North West and North East, it is clear that alcohol misuse remains a big problem for our region and at the heart of that problem is alcohol at pocket money prices,” she said.
“We really need to make alcohol less affordable and less easy to buy if we are to reduce the negative impact it is having on the North East and research shows that the best way to do this is through the introduction of a minimum price per unit of alcohol.
“Those on our frontline are doing a tremendous job tackling alcohol misuse and its consequences, but they need our help to push for changes in the law to lessen the impact which sees staff being the victims of abuse, both physical and verbal, when they’re trying to help.”
Sue is urging people to have their say on alcohol price and legislation by logging onto
www.balancenortheast.co.uk, supporting the ‘I have a drink problem’ campaign and registering an opinion through a Government consultation, which closes on September 8.