An extra £1m in funding to combat alcohol-fuelled disorder will help make Scotland’s streets safer, particularly during the festive period, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said today.

MacAskill made the announcement at the Violence Reduction Unit’s ‘Communities Against Alcohol Fuelled Violence’ conference. The funding, which will be made available to Community Safety Partnerships, will be used to fund projects aimed at reducing alcohol-fuelled violence, especially during festive times.

MacAskill said: “The Scottish Government is committed to building stronger and safer communities, where families feel safe to go out and enjoy a meal or drink in the evening without fear of being harassed by aggressive drunks or threatening behaviour. Sadly, there's barely a weekend that goes by without one incident or another to remind us of the importance of tackling violence, and in particular, alcohol fuelled violence.

“I've already outlined action to make sure that alcohol can't be seen as a mitigating factor, to crackdown on alcohol misuse by banning irresponsible promotions in off-sales and deal with the consequences by proposing a "polluter pays" approach to funding extra policing capacity. I hope the projects funded through this additional money - such as taxi marshals, highly visible targeted policing, and safe night zones - can make the streets of our towns and cities safer and help people to have a more enjoyable Christmas and New Year.”

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