Tougher powers for police to tackle teenage drinking

Councillor Phil Bateman today agreed with the Home Secretary who called for parents and the drinks industryto play a major role in reducing what is turning into a blizzard of crime. He said " I support the Home Secretary. Here in Wednesfield North we have our own problems, and they seem to be worsening rather than getting better. Go for it Home Secretary make the police crack down on under age drinking."

Jacqui Smith MP, Labour’s Home Secretary, has outlined tougher police powers and called for parents and the drinks industry to play their part in preventing young people drinking in public.

In a speech to an audience of police and local licensing officers, along with representatives from the drinks and retail industries, the Home Secretary described a package of measures to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder.

The measures include: a major new national crackdown by police to confiscate alcohol from all under-18s drinking in public; extra powers for police to make it clear children drinking in public is unacceptable; and wider use of parenting contracts when poor parenting is identified.

An independent review has also been announced to see how well the retail industry is doing in meeting alcohol sale standards.

Jacqui Smith said: "There is a lot of good work being done to tackle the damage that alcohol misuse can do to individuals, to the people around them, and to the communities they live in. But I want to go further.

"Government must lead the way and I am determined to use all the powers at my disposal to bring about change. But in order to do this we also need the support of industry, enforcement authorities and communities. We all need to meet our responsibilities to make a difference.

“Police must have all the powers they need to make groups of young people drinking in public a thing of the past. A new campaign to confiscate alcohol from underage drinkers begins this month and lessons will be learned from it. At the same time we will continue to punish those few irresponsible retailers that flout the law by persistently selling to children.

"Parents must play their part as well and we will give parents whose children are drinking the support they need to change their damaging behaviour."