Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his department is taking to measure the effect of the availability of cheap alcohol on rates of alcohol-related hospital admissions for (a) young people and (b) homeless people.

The Department commissioned an evidence review from Public Health England on the Public Health Burden of alcohol, which was published in 2016. This report was a comprehensive review of available evidence, which included the availability of alcohol and its impact on various socioeconomic groups. The report is available to view online at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/583047/alcohol_public_health_burden_evidence_review.pdf

The Government continues to review what further evidence is required to understand the impact of cheap alcohol alongside hospital admissions and minimum unit pricing and its impact also remains under review.