Age Restricted Sales Plan 2015/2016

Transcription

1 Central Bedfordshire Council Age Restricted Sales Plan 2015/ Introduction 2. Range of activities 3. Collaborative working 4. Service plan Why our work is important 6. Review

2 1. INTRODUCTION Our work in relation to Age Restricted Sales will contribute to the following: Our children and young people will have the best start in life Our residents will be healthy and happy Promote a fair and sustainable trading environment The illegal sale of age restricted products can have many social and economic detriments for the residents of Central Bedfordshire, for example health detriments, reckless and anti- social behaviour, and an unfair disadvantage for legitimate businesses. Our aim is to stop the supply of age restricted products to children, and to contribute to the overall reduction of the wider problems associated with underage sales. 2. RANGE OF ACTIVITIES This Authority enforces legislation relating to the sale of the following age restricted products: Cigarettes and tobacco products Alcohol products Intoxicating substances (butane/solvents) Knives and blades Aerosol paint Fireworks & other explosives Petroleum spirit Video recordings (Inc. computer games, DVD s) Lottery and scratch cards Sunbeds Legislation The Children and Young Person's (Protection from Tobacco) Act 1991 requires a local authority to review its enforcement policy relating to the supply of cigarettes and tobacco to persons under the age of 18 on an annual basis. The Licensing Act 2003, section 154, places a duty on every local weights and measures authority in England & Wales to enforce within its area the provisions of sections 146 & 147, so far as they apply to sales of alcohol made on or from premises to which the public have access. 2

3 The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (section 32) places a duty on local weights and measures authorities to consider whether enforcement action is necessary with respect to the under age sale of aerosol paint and to undertake appropriate enforcement action if needed. The Sunbeds (Regulation) Act 2010 (section 7(1)) places a duty on every local authority to enforce within its area the provisions of section 2, in relation to the illegal use of sunbeds by persons under the age of 18. Offensive Weapons Act 1996 (as amended) The Video Recordings Act 1984 Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928 Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 National Lottery Regulations 1994 The fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1997 (as amended) Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985 The Cigarette Lighter Refill (Safety) Regulations 1999 Premise Licence Applications- responsible Authority As a listed responsible authority under the Licensing Act 2003, we assess premises licence applications to sell alcohol, regarding their proposed policies and procedures to prevent age restricted sales. 3. COLLABORATIVE WORKING We will proactively encourage partnership working to tackle the wide range of problems that underage sales can cause. We will encourage the sharing of Intel and best practice between the following key partners: Community Safety The Anti- Social Behaviour team The School Interventions team Children s Services Public Health Bedfordshire Police Local retailers & licensees Kick Ash 3

4 Kick Ash UK is a young person led smoking prevention programme for under 16s. A tobacco control initiative where Public Health, smoking cessation services, PSHE, Trading Standards, schools and young people work together to promote a 'proud to be smoke free' message. The programme in Bedfordshire has so far involved working within schools with classes of year olds raising the awareness of tobacco related health and crime issues. The children were taken out to local retailers and assisted Public Protection Officers in giving advice and guidance and promoting the Kick-Ash campaign. It was also an opportunity for the school to share valuable intelligence and participate in test-purchase operations. Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP) CAP is a Community Interest Company, who encourages local partnership working to tackle underage alcohol misuse and associated anti social behaviour. CAP recognises and encourages retail involvement as part of the solution. Central Bedfordshire Council partners listed above will be meeting with a CAP representative to discuss whether or not a CAP scheme would be beneficial and suitable for Central Bedfordshire. This meeting will also be a good opportunity for key partners to identify any geographical areas effected by alcohol abuse, and discuss best practice for working together in 2015/ SERVICE PLAN

5 Intel Evaluation Enforcement Reducing UAS Public Perception Education Intel and Enforcement With an emphasis on greater Intel sharing and joint partnership working, we will continue to provide an intelligence led approach to target areas of non compliance. We will consider a greater breadth of Intel from our partners, and determine whether Trading Standards assistance can help in reducing wider problems, for example Anti- Social Behaviour or. Where Intel suggests, we will continue to target problem traders by use of the following enforcement tools: Under age sales test purchase operation Sale by proxy operations Self check out operations If a business or person is found to be in breach of the law, we will follow the Council s enforcement policy. Enforcement action may include a written warning, a caution, fixed penalty notices, or prosecution. When appropriate, for example underage sales of alcohol from an off- licence, a licence review will be considered. Alternative Enforcement 5

6 The Fair Trading Award do you PASS module comprises of a half day training course for small businesses. It focuses on the prevention of illegal underage sales with emphasis on the requirements of the law, diligence and proxy sales. In the appropriate circumstances, if a business is found to be in breach of the law, they (the seller or even all staff) will be offered the opportunity to attend the training course for a fee, as an alternative to prosecution. Between , from the 45 separate premises that have attended all have been re-tested subsequently with a 98% pass rate (only one retailer failed). Education To reduce the detriments caused by the sale of age restricted products, it is key that we continue to educate children and businesses alike of the law and consequences. We will continue to participate in the Kick Ash initiative which involves educating children on the dangers of tobacco. We will explore the opportunities that CAP suggest in terms of educational schemes aimed at children and businesses. We will continue to offer business advice when requested on the laws relating to the sale of age restricted, and on the diligence steps businesses should take to ensure compliance. All non compliant businesses will be given this advice on location, and as mentioned, will be offered the chance to attend the fair trading Do You PASS training. Public perception We will offer our support to the Community Safety team and the Anti Social Behaviour team when aiming to reduce crime and anti- social behaviour within a designated area. It is important to publicise such work, and the results of such work, so that local people can build a better perception of their area, and feel safer as a result. We will support any surveys of local people carried out prior to and after any targeted partnership projects, which is a good way to gauge any changes in public opinion. 6

7 Evaluation We will consider the CAP evaluation toolkit, which encourages a collection of data on key indicators, which can be used for other areas of enforcement, such as tobacco. CAP encourages evaluating a wider range of data, such as local crime and anti-social behaviour statistics, levels of alcohol-related litter, hotspot drinking areas, complaints and incidents reported to partner agencies, ambulance pick-ups for underage alcohol related incidents, hospital admission for under 18s and public perception surveys. We will continue to monitor the success of our Under Age Sale operations, and will re-visit stores that have failed in order to check that any enforcement action we have taken is working. 5. WHY IS OUR WORK IS IMPORTANT 66% of regular smokers start smoking before the age of 18 (A Smoke Free Future (DH) 2010; WHO) Approximately 18% of boys and 26% of girls aged 15 smoke in the UK (A Smoke Free Future (DH) 2010; WHO) Alcohol abuse among young people can often be linked to poor school achievement, unsociable behaviour, truancy, unemployment, problems with relationships and delinquency (Alcohol and Young People Royal Colleague of Physicians, British Paediatric Association) Based on data from the 2004 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey, young people s drinking behaviour between the ages of 10 and 17 years is associated with 80,640 violent offences per year, of which 34,560 are cases of assault resulting in injury, and 27,200 property offences, including 15,360 cases of criminal damage (Home Office, (July 2010),) Crime in England and Wales 2009/10: Findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime) 6. REVIEW 2014/2015 Test Purchases- Alcohol off- Licences 7

8 64 test purchase operations 7 failures 11% failure rate Test Purchases- Alcohol on- Licences 3 test purchase operations 1 failure 33% failure rate Test Purchases- Tobacco 14 test purchase operations 3 failures 21% failure rate Test Purchases- Fireworks 4 test purchase operations 0 failures 0% failure rate Test Purchases- Knives 4 test purchase operations 0 failures 0% failure rate Test Purchases- DVD s 8 test purchase operations 3 failures 37.5% failure rate Test Purchases- solvents/ lighter fluid 1 test purchase operations 0 failures 0% failure rate Product Type Failure percentage 2013/14 Failure percentage 2013/14 8 Failure percentage 2012/13 Failure percentage 2011/12

9 Alcohol - Off 11% 9.5% Licence Alcohol - On 33% 44% 33 Licence Tobacco 21% 14.8% Knives % 50 DVD/Video 37.5% 21.4% games Solvents/Lighter 0 Fluid Spray-paints 10% Fireworks 0 0% 11% 7% Sunbeds 34% Total: 14% 16% 25% 27% Premise Licence Applications- responsible Authority As a listed responsible authority under the Licensing Act 2003, in 2014/15 51 premises licence applications have been assessed regarding the proposed policies and procedures in place to prevent age restricted sales. 9

10 A great place to live and work Contact us by on the web: Write to Central Bedfordshire Council, Priory House, Monks Walk, Chicksands, Shefford, Bedfordshire SG17 5TQ 10