The Government’s attempt to reduce alcohol-related disorder by introducing 24-hour drinking has failed dismally, according to a survey.

Seven out of ten police authorities, primary care trusts and councils believe that the number of alcohol-related incidents has risen or stayed the same, a report from the Local Government Association shows. When the laws to extend drinking hours were introduced in November 2005, ministers argued that the aim was to promote a café culture and reduce disorder after last orders when everyone emerged on to the streets at 11pm.

The LGA survey suggests that nearly one in three primary care trusts has reported an increase in alcohol-related incidents. Half of police authorities report that the Act has merely resulted in the incidents occurring later in the night.

In addition, more than three quarters of health authorities have felt that they have had to spend more, largely owing to a rise in accident and emergency admissions, while council tax payers have paid £100 million to administer the new regulations.

“The new drink laws have made no impact whatsoever on reducing the alcohol-related violence that blights town centres and turns them into no-go areas on a Friday and Saturday night,” Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the LGA, said. “The vast majority of local councils, police and hospitals have reported no change at all, with violent incidents generally just being shifted later into the evening.

“The Government was always going to fall short on its promises to curb excessive drinking because new licensing laws alone were never going to be enough to change this endemic culture of alcohol and violence. The new system was burdened with exaggerated expectations.”

The LGA report also shows the financial strain on councils, hospitals and other local services. The police and hospitals were being called into action 24 hours a day, stopping disorder, breaking up fights and patching up the walking wounded, Sir Simon added.

“Town halls have been landed with an accumulated bill of £100 million from the new laws and have been left with little option but to pass the cost on to the council taxpayer.”

When the licensing laws were changed, Tessa Jowell, then the Culture Secretary, said: “The reason that we are moving to more flexible licensing hours is because of all the evidence that crime and disorder is at its peak at chucking-out time.

“We now have new legislation with an overriding objective to reduce crime and antisocial behaviour. I’m confident that the measures we have put in place will do just that.”

A Home Office report this year suggested that there had been a 25 per cent rise in serious violent offences in the early hours of the morning. The report also showed that the café culture had never really materialised and that people were just drinking more.

The survey of 30 police forces showed that crimes between 3am and 6am were up by 22 per cent, with more than 10,000 extra offences being committed during those hours.

Last night the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: “This report needs to be seen in the context of other research. The Government’s own research, published in March, showed that, overall, crime and alcohol consumption are down since the introduction of the Act. Serious violent crime at night is down 5 per cent and less serious wounding at night is down 3 per cent.

“The Government has never said that the Licensing Act alone would tackle the deep-seated problems of alcohol-related crime and disorder.”

The LGA survey was based on detailed responses from 51 local authorities, 49 primary care trusts and 20 police authorities.

Sir Simon will tell the LGA’s annual conference in Bournemouth today that the association has set up a special project to share what works across the country in preventing gun and knife crime.

After-effects

94% of local authorities said that they were more stretched as a result of the Licensing Act

10% of primary care trusts reported a rise in trouble in town centres as a result of the Act

50% of police authorities reported that alcohol-related incidents were happening later since the implementation of the Act

86% of PCTs said that the Act had caused extra pressure on resources

Source: The impact of the Licensing Act 2003 on levels of crime and disorder: an evaluation

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