GOVERNMENT HAVE “COMPLETELY FAILED” TO TACKLE THE PROBLEM OF UNDERAGE DRINKING

I have just been out and about in the ward collecting signatures for new alleyway schemes, and I was talking to a number of residents about the problem of underage drinking in one area of East Marsh. It is a problem that blights many estates; not just in our area but the whole of the UK. In this case, it is not young people purchasing the alcohol it is the youngsters pressurising adults outside the shop to purchase it on their behalf.

I then arrived home, and read the Sunday Times online and came across an article titled: “hundreds of children under 10 hospitalised with alcohol problems.”

A child under ten is admitted to hospital to be treated for alcohol-related problems once every three days in England, according to Government figures revealed today.

Between 2002 and 2007, a total of 648 under-tens and more than 24,000 under-16s were hospitalised because of excessive intake of alcohol.

The figures come from within a parliamentary answer revealed by the Liberal Democrats ahead of the launch tomorrow of their strategy to tackle underage and binge drinking.

In the 16-17 age bracket alone, they revealed, around 12,500 teenagers were admitted to Accident and Emergency for alcohol-related conditions, marking an increase of 95 per cent between 2002 and 2007.

Reacting to figures from the Department of Health, Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster is calling for a change to Britain’s drinking culture, and said the Government had “completely failed” to tackle the problem.

He said: “For so many children of such a young age to be hospitalised is scandalous. Ministers must conduct an urgent review of the systems in place, which are meant to be ensuring that young children cannot have access to such harmful substances.

“Only a complete change to our drinking culture will prevent a whole generation of young people from being condemned to serious alcohol-related illnesses.”

I completely agree with Don Foster’s comments, we should be doing more to help our young people with drink related problems; they must learn to drink sensibly. Binge drinking is often linked to high teenage pregnancy rates, mental health conditions, worklessness, crime and disorder. In many of our communities drink is too easily available, and at prices that encourage young people to go over the top.