MINISTERS MUST TACKLE PROBLEM DRINKING AT ITS SOURCE - LAMB

1.27.51pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 26th Jun 2007

The Liberal Democrats have highlighted the problem of shops selling alcohol to underage people in response to new figures showing that alcohol-related hospital admissions doubled in the past decade.

Almost one in four pubs and off licenses sell alcohol to underage children according to Liberal Democrat research.

Commenting on today's figures from the Information Centre for Health and Social Care, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb MP said:

"Ministers have been repeatedly warned about the dangerous side-effects of heavy drinking, but the Government has allowed public health budgets to be raided to cover deficits elsewhere.

"A fresh look at tackling the growing problem of excessive drinking is long overdue. A good start would be cracking down on those shops that sell alcohol to underage children.

"Problem drinking often starts at a young age, so it essential we make it harder for underage teenagers to get hold of alcohol. As well as causing chaos in A&Es on Friday nights and anti-social behaviour, irresponsible drinking results in serious long-term health problems."

FURTHER INFORMATION

1. The alcohol statistics were today published by the Information Centre for Health and Social Care: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/alcohol/statistics-on-alcohol

2. The Liberal Democrats asked all the 168 relevant local authorities (County Councils, Unitary Authorities, Metropolitan Authorities) in England and Wales how many test purchases they have undertaken on licensed premises selling alcohol to underage young people in the past two years. We received replies from 69 authorities.

The survey of local authorities found that 23% of tested licensed premises sold alcohol to underage children in the past two years.