Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

(asked on 21st October 2014) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address Britain’s drinking culture, which Public Health England recently identified as causing a rise in liver disease deaths.


Answered by
Earl Howe Portrait
Earl Howe
Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
This question was answered on 4th November 2014

The Government’s Alcohol Strategy, set out ambitions whereby ‘we will radically reshape the approach to alcohol and reduce the number of people drinking to excess’. The ambitions include:

- a change in behaviour so that people think it is not acceptable to drink in ways that could cause harm to themselves and others;

- a reduction in the amount of alcohol-fuelled violent crime;

- a reduction in the number of adults drinking above the National Health Service guidelines;

- a reduction in the number of people ‘binge drinking’;

- a reduction in the number of alcohol-related deaths; and

- a sustained reduction in both the numbers of 11-15 year olds drinking alcohol and the amounts consumed.

In November 2012, the Home Office launched a consultation on five key areas with the aim of reducing alcohol-fuelled crime, anti-social behaviour and alcohol-related health harm.

The Government response, published in July 2013, provided an analysis of the responses and set out the next steps that the Government will take:

- targeted national action, ending sales of the cheapest alcohol by introducing a ban on selling alcohol below the price of duty and VAT, and strengthening the ban on irresponsible promotions in pubs and clubs;

- a challenge to industry to increase its efforts, building on what has already been achieved through the Public Health Responsibility Deal. This includes tackling high strength products; promoting alcohol responsibly in shops; improving education around drinking; and supporting targeted local action; and

- support local action on alcohol-related harm, identifying a number of high harm local alcohol action areas and take action with them to strengthen local partnerships; improve enforcement; and share good practice based on what works locally. The Minister for Crime Prevention announced the twenty successful areas on 13 February 2014.

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