Call for a crack down on reckless licence holders

2.10.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 30th Jul 2007

Dan Daley calls for crack down on irresponsible and negligent licence holders

In the debate on the Future of Public Health in Kent at County Hall, Dan Daley, Member for Maidstone Central called on Authorities to be tougher on those found guilty of supplying alcohol to under-age teens. He reported the recent withdrawal of an alcohol licence at his local Tesco Express.

His concern is with the damage that young people are doing to their health which will lead to serious medical conditions in later life. "It is all very well having the good intentions shown in the document we are debating here today about promoting Good Health in our population, but unless there is a much stronger approach to the control of alcohol misuse in our young people then we shall all be paying an extremely high price in years to come".

Dan was calling for the government, police, trading standards and licensing authorities to be far more pro-active in detecting the misuse of the licences held by Pubs / Clubs, Supermarkets and Garages. "Binge drinking is seen as the root cause of most of the anti-social behaviour problems being faced in many neighbourhoods. It is now far too easy to buy alcohol" Dan informed the Chamber.

"We need more licences to be suspended when breaches have been detected as at Tesco in Allington this week. Failure now will inevitably mean more costs to the Health Service in a few years with liver failure, depression and drink addiction being at the forefront of the problems".

Dan calls on members of the public and local community groups to be far more proactive in informing Licensing Authorities of any breaches witnessed to assist them in a crack down on irresponsible and negligent licence holders.