Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

Title: Omnibus survey: testing public opinion on licensing law and alcohol consumption
Author: Deena Kara and Linda Hutton, Scottish Executive Social Research (Survey conducted by Scottish Opinion Ltd)
Series: Scottish Executive Social Research 2003
Number of pages: 53
Date published: February 2003

Licensed Premises

A number of questions focused on what Scottish people thought about the number of licensed premises in Scotland. Overall, 56% of the total sample believed that the number of licensed premises from which alcohol is bought to consume on the premises, such as bars, restaurants and clubs, was 'about right'

When respondents were asked what they thought about the number of premises where alcohol can be bought to be taken away, e.g. off-licenses and supermarkets, 63% of the overall sample said that the number was 'about right'. Over one third of the higher age groups (39% of 55-64 year olds and 39% of those 65 and over) thought there were too many 'off-sales' premises.

'On-sales'

A high proportion of the sample (62%) believed that the licensing hours for 'on' licensed premises were about right, while 13% thought they should be further restricted and 21% said they should be extended.

Around one quarter of the same respondents (23%) thought that an extension of opening hours would discourage binge-drinking, following the theory that people were more likely to pace their alcohol consumption if they had longer hours in which to drink.

'Off-sales'

Across the whole sample, 63% felt that the number of off-licences, shops, supermarkets and other outlets from which alcohol can be purchased to be taken away was 'about right'.

Social Attitudes towards Alcohol-Related Crime and Disorder

Of the whole sample, 69% believed that there was 'a lot' of disturbance and problems of crime/disorder in Scotland's cities, towns and villages at night. In addition, many respondents (64%) further agreed that the disturbance/problems of crime and disorder were linked to alcohol consumption. This feeling was relatively equitable across all age bands, ranging from 56% of 16-17 year olds to 67% of 35-44 year olds.

The survey also found that 58% of the sample believed that levels of drunkenness and drunken behaviour in Scotland had increased in the last 5 years, while 29% believed that the level had remained the same.

When asked what concerned them most about public drunkenness, 34% of respondents voiced concerns about violence. Almost two-thirds of 16-17 year olds were particularly concerned about this (61%), along with over a quarter of 18-24 year olds (29%), over a third of 25-34 year olds (37%) and 41% of 35-44 year olds. Moreover, open-ended responses to this question revealed concerns about under-age drinking and its consequences, with 13% of the sample making reference to the problems of under-age drinking in relation to public drunkenness. Concerns expressed by respondents about under-age drinking included:

• 'Binge drinking amongst youths'

• 'The attitudes of young people can be very scary and anti-social'

• 'Young girls are doing a lot of drinking.'

• 'Menace caused by the young'

• 'Young people are able to access alcohol easily'

'Happy Hours'

Overall, 14% of the sample agreed strongly with the idea of 'happy hours'. These respondents included a high proportion of 16-17 year olds (72%) and one third of 18-24 year olds. In comparison, 33% of 25-34 year olds agreed slightly with the practice of drinks promotions. Resistance to the notion of 'happy hours' was most commonly found in the older age groups, with between one third of 45-54 year olds and 54% of those aged 65 and over strongly disagreeing with the concept of happy hours.

Under-age drinking in Scotland

Almost all of those surveyed (94%) believed that there was a problem with under-age drinking in Scotland. Interestingly, all of the 16-17 year olds who responded agreed with this, highlighting perhaps that there is an awareness within this age group of the problematic drinking behaviour of some of their peers. Only 3% of the total sample thought that under-age drinking was not a problem, and a further 3% were not sure.

See the full report, "Omnibus survey: testing public opinion on licensing law and alcohol consumption" on the Scottish Executive's website

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