Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the report <i>Four Nations – How Evidence-based are Alcohol Policies and Programmes Across the UK?</i> published in November by the Alliance for Useful Evidence<i>, </i>and if so, what lessons they have drawn for their own plans to reduce alcohol-related harm.
Answered by Lord Bates
We have noted the report. It misrepresents the Government’s position on minimum unit pricing and health as a licensing objective. Minimum unit pricing will remain under review whilst we monitor carefully the legal developments and the implementation of this policy in Scotland. We have consulted on health as a licensing objective and will continue to look at its feasibility.
Our assessment of alcohol-related harm is that it costs society over £21 billion per year. To address this we will build on the 2012 Alcohol Strategy to tackle alcohol as a driver of crime and support people to stay healthy, while working with partners at a local and national level to reduce the impact of alcohol misuse.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Institute of Alcohol Studies' response to the Institute of Economic Affairs' report <i>Closing Time: Who’s killing the British Pub?</i>, whether they plan to commission an independent, comprehensive review of the cost of alcohol use to society.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Government has no plans to commission a further review of costs.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Institute of Economic Affairs' report <i>Alcohol and the public purse: Do drinkers pay their way? </i>and the Institute of Alcohol Studies' response to this report.
Answered by Lord Bates
We estimate the total cost of alcohol to society to be approximately £21 billion a year, including alcohol-related crime and health harms and the cost to the economy of lost productivity. The IEA report takes a very narrow view of the cost of alcohol harms, basing this only on the actual costs to government set against the revenue it receives in taxation. This fails to take account the wider costs to society, including the cost of treating alcohol abuse and supporting the victims of alcohol-related violent crime.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many requests for asylum from Eritreans have been granted over the last year, on a month by month basis.
Answered by Lord Bates
The table below shows the latest published number of nationals of Eritrea granted asylum and other form of protection in the UK, based on initial decisions for main applicants since January 2014.
| Number of nationals of Eritrea granted asylum or other form of protection in the UK (main applicants), based on initial decisions (1) | ||||
| Month/Year | Grants of asylum | Humanitarian Protection | Discretionary Leave | Other form of protection (2) |
| 2014 | ||||
| January | 83 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| February | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| March | 67 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| April | 77 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 94 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| June | 111 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| July | 190 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| August | 179 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| September | 270 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| October | 281 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| November | 325 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| December | 409 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total 2014 | 2,144 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| 2015 | ||||
| January | 316 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| February | 157 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| March | 63 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Total January to March 2015 | 536 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| (1) Initial decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period and exclude the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions. | ||||
| (2) Figures for 'Other form of protection' include: grants under family and private life rules, which relate to the introduction of a new approach to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, from 9 July 2012; Leave Outside the Rules, which was introduced for those refused asylum from 1 April 2013; and UASC leave, which was introduced for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children refused asylum but eligible for temporary leave from 1 April 2013. | ||||
The figures provided in the table are a subset of latest statistics published in the Immigration Statistics release by the Home Office, in Table as_01_q “Asylum applications and initial decisions for main applicants, by country of nationality”.
The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on asylum applications and initial decisions within the Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics January – March 2015, is available from the Library of the House.