Hi GUM
I'm sure he is feeling very sorry - till the next time he drinks to excess. Not at all surprised to see you're feeling very cynical; you've heard this all before from him haven't you?.
He still wants to try and give up on his own?.
The ball in now your court - what are you going to do if he falls off the wagon again?.
You need to out yourself and your children first now. Not suggesting you haven't done this to date but he cannot keep throwing this all back at you. You after all are not responsible for him ultimately.
When I suggest he seeks help and goes away to get it what I mean is that he needs to go into a properly run detox program on his own without you and your children to visit because he uses you all as an emotional crutch. He knows he can do this repeatedly and you forgive him. If he is truly serious about wanting to address this problem he would do this without protest.
Did you ask him about getting proper help, and if so what was his answer?.
He also needs a complete sea change of lifestyle - he will have to give up his old life of drinking buddies because they are not helping him. Some of them could be alcoholic as well.
There are no guarantees here - he may not be able to stop drinking even if he had access to proper help. He could ultimately drink himself to death.
There would certainly be no drink in your house but he drinks outside the home anyway. Not giving him access to drink indoors is not going to address his problem that starts outside.