The Home Office does not centrally collect data on incidents of street drinking. You may wish to view the data on consumption within a Designated Public Place Order (DPPO) which is provided in the table.
Within a DPPO area it is not an offence to consume alcohol. The offence is committed when a person, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement of a police constable to refrain from consuming alcohol (Section 12 (4) of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001).
The number of PNDs issued for failure to comply with a requirement by a constable within a Designated Public Place Order are as follows:
485 in 2004, 712 in 2005, 1,061 in 2006 and 1,544 in 2007.
Data for 2008 will be available in autumn 2009.
Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty, and issued with a level 2 fine1 at all courts for offences relating to the Police Reform Act 2002 Sch.4 Para.5 (Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 S.12). Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 in England and Wales, 2003-072,3,4Fine amount5Proceeded againstFound guiltyTotal finesFines up to £200Fines over £200 and up to £5002003108947372—2004122967878—200510176636212006101735959—20071139876751 1 A ‘level 2’ fine does not specify a minimum fine amount, only the statutory maximum for the given offence; therefore all fines in the above table could be classed as ‘level 2’ fines. There are a number of factors including the defendants’ ability to pay that will affect the courts’ decision to impose a fine and fine amounts should not solely be taken as an indication of the seriousness of the offence or offender.2 These data are on the principal offence basis.3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.4 Includes the following statutes and corresponding offence descriptions:Police Reform Act 2002 Sch.4 Para.5 (Criminal Justice & Police Act 2001 S.12). Criminal Justice & Police Act 2001 S12.Contravene a community support officers’ requirement not to consume liquor.Penalty offence under S.1 Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001—alcohol consumption in designated public places.5 Following quality assurance checks, one fine amount in 2003 has been removed. This amount was greater than the maximum permissible fine. Therefore the number of fines and the fine amount totals in 2003 will not match each other.Source:OCJR—E & A: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit