Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to develop a new national alcohol strategy for England.

Answered by Ashley Dalton

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for York Central on 23 January 2026 to Question 105860.

The Government is committed to shortening the amount of time spent in ill health and preventing premature deaths caused by alcohol. Action to prevent harms from alcohol feature in several current strategies and plans.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to manage conflicts of interest associated with alcohol industry involvement in public health policy.

Answered by Ashley Dalton

The Department already has established arrangements in place to manage conflicts of interest for both ministers and civil servants, including where these relate to the alcohol industry.

Ministerial conduct is governed by the Ministerial Code, which sets out requirements on the declaration and handling of ministers’ interests. Civil servants are bound by the Civil Service Code, and by departmental policies that set out how actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest must be identified, declared, and managed.

The Department keeps its internal guidance under regular review to ensure it remains aligned with cross-Government standards and supports transparent and accountable decision-making.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing restrictions on alcohol in line with existing restrictions on the marketing of less healthy food and drink.

Answered by Ashley Dalton

Currently alcohol advertising and promotion in the United Kingdom is regulated primarily through the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which administers the mandatory Advertising Codes, written by the Committee of Advertising Practice and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice, across media through self-regulation for non-broadcast advertising and co-regulation, with Ofcom as a statutory backstop, for broadcast advertising. The ASA’s Advertising Codes contain specific rules about how alcohol can be advertised, as they recognise the social imperative of ensuring that alcohol advertising is responsible.

The Department of Health and Social Care will continue to work with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, as the lead Government department responsible for advertising, to consider if additional statutory restrictions on marketing and advertising are needed to reduce alcohol related harms.

Found: Questions from Danny Beales MP DB: Should people who are actively promoting false information about

Found: Q519 Danny Beales: Is this the hub model you talked about?

Found: Current membership Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat; Oxford West and Abingdon) (Chair) Danny Beales (Labour

Found: Q14 Danny Beales: Is that not the proposition?

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Layla Moran (Chair); Danny Beales; Ben Coleman; Dr Beccy Cooper;

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Layla Moran (Chair); Danny Beales; Ben Coleman; Dr Beccy Cooper;

Found: Danny Beales: What was the effect that you saw?