City Know-hows

Using local health information to improve alcohol licensing decisions

The classic depiction of a city without alcohol availability constraints: Hogarth Gin Lane 1751 engraving. © The Trustees of the British Museum. CC-BY-NC-ND.

Target audience

City licensing and alcohol officers and committee members

The problem

In England, Local Public Health teams are now able to table objections to the granting of new licence applications for the sale of alcohol. For an objection to be valid however, it must be based on one or more licensing objectives which in England does not include health. This can effectively render any health-related evidence to be inadmissible and bring into question the legitimacy of public health input.

What we did and why

We examined the prospects for incorporating health related evidence into the alcohol license decision making process in a purposive sample of seven English local authorities. We wanted to establish if firstly it might be feasible to include health information under the existing licensing objectives or if there was a case that could be made for a separate new fifth objective around health and the advantages that might bring.

Our study’s contribution

Constraints in using health information in alcohol licence decision-making are not restricted to the presence or absence of a dedicated Health as an Alcohol Licensing Objective (HALO) policy.

While such an policy might enhance the legitimacy of public health input, improved access to localised health information, stronger collaborative working with other stakeholders and training in how to contextualise evidence for local council committees will all be critical to improving local alcohol harm reduction through licensing.

Impacts for city policy and practice

The capacity to impose restraints on the availability of alcoholic beverages represents a key strategy in reducing alcohol harms and improving city well-being. We would stress that raising awareness of the wider health harms of alcohol in addition to its acute impacts such as crime and disorder, can improve the prospects for controlling availability. Though, the evidence needs to be contextualised and accessible for local licensing committees.

Further information

Findings from the pilot of the analytical support package for alcohol licensing; Executive summary

Alcohol licensing in England and Wales: is it fit for purpose? AHA_Licensing_leaflet v5

Full research article:

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