£7m scheme to help "at risk" drinkers

A new £7 million government scheme to help the 20 areas of England worst hit by alcohol misuse has been unveiled today.

The initiative is designed to help the local health service better identify and intervene with those at risk in "inequality hotspots", public health minister Dawn Primarolo said.

Speaking at the National Alcohol Conference in Nottingham, Primarolo announced a new, wide-reaching Alcohol Improvement Programme to help speed up a reduction in "alcohol-related harm".

Primarolo said: "More than a quarter of adults in England drink above government guidelines and around 15,000 people die because of alcohol every year. We clearly have a serious problem that needs urgent attention.

"Starting with the most deprived areas in inequality hotspots, we are going to roll out a new programme which will identify and help drinkers who are at risk.

"For every pound spent on alcohol intervention, five pounds are saved by the public purse - so this is money well spent."

The new programme, backed by £6m, will:

• establish regional alcohol managers to push forward alcohol treatment and advice at a local level
• pull together local information on statistics, hospital admissions and medical conditions to help treatment commissioners
• help increase access to specialist treatment - there is currently just one place for every 18 people who show signs of dependence
• push out simple advice which, nationally, could help 250,000 men and 70,000 women to bring their drinking down to lower risk levels.

Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said problem drinkers had faced a "postcode lottery for services" for far too long.

"This new injection of cash is most welcome for the areas worst affected by alcohol misuse and all areas will benefit from improved information and guidance," he said.

"Slowly, but surely, local areas are now being provided with the tools they need to invest in alcohol treatment, the challenge will be for them to convert this into services on the ground for those who need it most."

An extral £1m will fund a new Alcohol Learning Centre and support activities. The programme will draw together best practice and success from each of the 20 areas so other local health services can learn from the programme.

The target areas are:

Ashton, Wigan and Leigh

Blackpool

Bolton

Darlington

East Lancashire

Heart of Birmingham

Knowsley

Leicester City

Manchester

Middlesborough

Newcastle

Newham

North East Lincolnshire

North Lincolnshire

North Tyneside

Nottingham City

Oldham

South Birmingham

Stoke-on-Trent

Warrington