| Community Alcohol Partnerships |
|
Community Alcohol Partnerships were developed by the Retail of Alcohol Standards Group and local partners to address underage drinking. What began as a pilot project in St. Neots, Cambridgeshire a couple of years ago has developed into a tried and trusted method of local partnership working which delivers results.Community Alcohol Partnerships aim to tackle the problems caused by underage access to alcohol through co-operation between alcohol retailers and local stakeholders, such as Trading Standards, police, local authority licensing teams, schools and health networks. Central to the operation of CAPs is the sharing of information between partners to combat purchase and possession of alcohol by those under 18 coupled with rigorous enforcement of laws designed to tackle anti-social behaviour. A toolkit to help local authorities, police and retailers set up CAPs is endorsed by the Home Office. A total of 12 schemes are now in operation in England and Scotland. The most ambitious partnership to date was launched in three areas of Kent in the early part of 2009. Independent evaluation of the projects by Kent University reinforces our view that this approach to alcohol misuse and associated anti-social behaviour offers a model which makes a real difference and harnesses Community commitment to change patterns of behaviour. Kent CAP has now been evaluated by Kent University. It was found that from March to September 2009 KCAP pilot areas saw a decline in offences of criminal damage some 6% greater than in non pilot areas. You can read more about the success in Kent in our December 2009 update: The full, independent evaluation of Kent Cap by Kent University can be found at: http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/kent/kcap.htm CAP Resources and News:
CAP Pilot Booklet |
