Stockport Council call for time on alcohol advertising

Local leaders are calling for changes to rules on alcohol advertising as Stockport Council and NHS Stockport Clinical Commissioning group are supporting the “See What Sam Sees” campaign.

The campaign organised by Manchester based social enterprise, Healthier Futures is calling for a 9pm watershed for alcohol adverts to protect children.

The call follows a week long “See What Sam Sees” Greater Manchester roadshow which visited Stockport recently, 

Councillor Colin Foster , Stockport Council’s Executive Member for Children and Family Services said , said: “As a local authority we are keen to do everything we can to protect the health of our children and young people. Alcohol has a very damaging effect on our communities yet our children are bombarded with alcohol marketing from a very early age. Half of all alcohol adverts on TV are screened before 9pm. This is not acceptable.”

Dr Vicci Owen-Smith, Clinical Director of Public Health at NHS Stockport CCG and Associate Medical Director for Public Health at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, said:  “If we have to have alcohol advertising on television, there appears to be no good reason why it is shown before 9pm when impressionable children may be watching. We have known for a long time that excessive alcohol consumption is very harmful to a person’s health so why expose children to adverts that extoll the virtues of drinking. The problem is that many adults are simply not aware that their level of drinking is excessive so how can we expect children to understand this.”

Andrea Crossfield from Healthier Futures said: “The more advertising children see, the younger they start drinking and the heavier they drink. Our roadshow aimed to raise awareness of this issue and encourage conversation with the public about the issue. The feedback we received at our road show at Bramhall and other areas we visited was that public are shocked by the amount of alcohol advertising our children are exposed to and want action on this issue.”