Councillors have unanimously agreed to write to government chiefs to lobby for new measures to help tackle alcohol harms.

A motion to the last full meeting of Hartlepool Borough Council highlighted the "significant burden that alcohol places on the NHS, emergency services, community safety, and families” particularly in the North East.

Put forward by Labour councillors, it called for a fifth objective to be put in place nationally as part of the Licensing Act 2003 to help local authorities manage the impact of premises selling alcohol.

This would "empower councils and directors of public health" to object to or condition alcohol licence applications based on local evidence of harm linked to the substance.

Hartlepool council chiefs want more conditions around availability of alcohol.

placeholder image — Hartlepool council chiefs want more conditions around availability of alcohol.

It would be titled “the protection and promotion of public health in relation to alcohol” and would go alongside other licensing objectives which seek to ensure public safety, the protection of children and the prevention of crime and disorder and public nuisance.

It would allow councils to manage the amount of outlets and late-night availability of alcohol and "more effectively protect vulnerable residents and reduce health inequalities."

Councillor Gary Allen, seconding the motion which was unanimously approved, noted Hartlepool is in the top 10 nationally for hospital admissions for alcohol-related incidents.

He said: "You look at some areas in Hartlepool and we have a concentration of licensed premises, the Victoria ward for example.

Victoria ward councillors Gary Allen and Karen Oliver outside Victoria Road Health Centre.

"We are at a tipping point and we need to address this and we need to pressure central government to help us to move this along."

Cllr Karen Oliver, proposing the motion, said the move would help tackle alcoholism and associated issues such as crime and domestic violence that affect Hartlepool and other areas.

The council will write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Home Secretary to call for an urgent review of the Licensing Act 2003 and to introduce a fifth statutory objective.

Councillors noted they have already written to Balance, the North East alcohol office over the issue, from whom they have received "a positive response."

The motion will also see the council work with other local authorities, public health partners, and the Local Government Association to promote the issue.

This change would align England with Scotland and Northern Ireland, where public health is already recognised in licensing legislation.