Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce alcohol consumption in England.

The new United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines provide the public with the most up to date scientific information to help people make informed decisions about their own drinking. The UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-consumption-advice-on-low-risk-drinking

The Department and Public Health England (PHE) will be reviewing the advice on higher risk drinking, in light of the new guidelines, at a UK level through a consensus process in partnership with the devolved administrations.

PHE is using its One You campaign to motivate people to take steps to improve their health through tackling the main risk factors such as smoking, inactivity, obesity, and alcohol. One You provides a Drinks Tracker app to help drinkers identify risky behaviour and lower their alcohol consumption.

Local government has been given the responsibility, backed by ring-fenced budgets, to improve people’s health. This includes responsibility for tackling problem drinking and commissioning appropriate prevention and treatment services for their local population’s needs.