Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 help safeguard young people from (a) drug and (b) alcohol addiction.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The most effective and sustainable approach to safeguarding children and young people from drug and alcohol harm is by giving them the best start in life, and by keeping them safe, well, and happy. Our mission-based approach will ensure that every child has the best start in life and that we create the healthiest generation of children ever.
Statutory guidance on relationships, sex, and health education requires all primary and secondary schools to ensure that pupils know the key facts and risks associated with alcohol and drug use, as well as how to manage influences and pressure, and keep themselves healthy and safe. The Department has worked with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Association to develop lesson plans on alcohol and drugs and has commissioned an update of the resources to be published later this year.
The Government also has an alcohol and drug information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce alcohol and drug use and its harms by providing awareness to young people, parents, and concerned others. Further information is available on the Talk to FRANK website, which is available at the following link:
Children and families affected by parental alcohol and/or drug use can experience adverse health, social, and economic outcomes, which can continue for generations without effective interventions to break the cycle. The Department is continuing to invest in improvements to local alcohol and drug treatment services to ensure that those in need can access high quality help and support.
In addition to the Public Health Grant, local authorities have had a further £267 million from the Department this year to improve the quality and capacity of treatment. This is alongside the additional investment of £105 million made available by the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government to improve treatment pathways and recovery, housing, and employment outcomes for people affected by alcohol and drug use.
Asked by: Will Stone (Labour - Swindon North)
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 review the Department’s approach to tackling alcohol harm; and whether he will consider introducing an alcohol strategy in this Parliament.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives. The Department will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of illegal sales of (a) tobacco, (b) vape and c) alcohol products.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Evidence shows that when we have introduced targeted tobacco control measures, they have had a positive impact on tackling the problems of illicit tobacco. When the age of sale was increased from 16 to 18 years old in 2007, this created 1.3 million more people who were no longer able to be sold cigarettes, and in theory would be in the market for illicit cigarettes. However, in practice, the number of illicit cigarettes consumed fell by 25% from 10 billion in 2005/06 to 7.5 billion in 2007/08. Overall, the consumption of illicit cigarettes has gone from 15 billion cigarettes in 2000/2001 to 1.5 billion cigarettes in 2022/2023.
The Government is investing over £100 million over five years to boost HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force’s enforcement capabilities to tackle illicit tobacco, supporting their Illicit Tobacco Strategy. In 2025/26, we will invest £30 million of new funding in total for enforcement agencies, including Trading Standards, Border Force, and HM Revenue and Customs, to tackle the illicit and underage sale of tobacco and vapes.
We have invested £3 million over two years specifically to enhance the work led by National Trading Standards to tackle underage and illicit vape sales. This is done through enhancing market surveillance, enforcement action at ports, intelligence development, and financial support for the storage and disposal of vapes. The new funding for 2025/26 will build on this work to tackle underage and illicit vape sales.
On alcohol, the Licensing Act 2003 regulates the sale and supply of alcohol in England and Wales, and sets out offences relating to the purchase and consumption of alcohol by children. The protection of children from harm is one of the four licensing objectives under the act, and the statutory guidance that accompanies this act makes it clear that the illegal purchase and consumption of alcohol by minors is a criminal activity that may arise in connection with licensed premises, and that this should be treated particularly seriously by licensing authorities. The guidance also sets out that licensing authorities are expected to maintain close contact with the police, young offenders’ teams, and trading standards officers about the extent of unlawful sales and consumption of alcohol by minors, be involved in the development of any strategies to control or prevent these unlawful activities, and to pursue prosecutions.
Since 2016, HM Revenue and Customs has operated a comprehensive strategy to combat illicit alcohol. This initiative has seen duty losses successfully reduce by over £500 million annually. This has been achieved through the introduction of measures such as the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme, which controls the supply of wholesale alcohol in the United Kingdom. Collaborative efforts with other enforcement agencies such as Trading Standards and Border Force have also enhanced compliance and enforcement, significantly reducing the availability of illicit alcohol.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential role of no and low alcohol products in supporting the Government’s public health objectives on alcohol harm reduction.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives.
The Department will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms, including exploring the potential opportunities presented by No and Low alcohol alternative drinks. While the department has not made a specific assessment of the economic impact of the United Kingdom’s 0.05% alcohol by volume (ABV) threshold on British brewers we will continue to consider how alcohol labelling can be improved to support consumers make informed decisions about the products they are purchasing, whilst also promoting responsible consumption.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to work with relevant authorities to tackle the illegal (a) sale, (b) distribution and (c) use of fentanyl in England.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government takes seriously the threat from potent synthetic drugs, including synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and nitazenes, including protonitazene, and is taking action. Reducing drug harms has important benefits for the Government’s mission to deliver safer streets, improve health outcomes and break down barriers to opportunity.
The HMG Synthetic Opioids Taskforce is working with partner agencies such as the National Crime Agency (NCA), the Department for Health and Social Care and the National Police Chiefs Council to counter the distribution and use of these dangerous substances.
To stem the supply of illicit synthetic opioids to and within the UK, the NCA, Police and Border Force are working together to ensure all lines of enquiry are prioritised and vigorously pursued. This involves mapping and targeting key offenders, including those operating within dark web markets, as well as training Border Force dogs to detect a range of nitazenes and fentanyl to stop these substances entering the country in the first place.
Fentanyl and protonitazene are both listed as Class A drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (MDA 1971). This means that the supply of these drugs carries a maximum penalty of up to life in prison, an unlimited fine or both. Possession carries a maximum penalty of up to 7 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both.
The Government has recently introduced a generic control for nitazenes which is intended to reduce the likelihood that criminals can circumvent existing controls by making minor alterations to the chemical structure of nitazenes that are already controlled as Class A drugs under the MDA 1971. This legislation came into force on 15 January.
Additionally, the unlawful sale of controlled drugs online is listed as a priority offence in the Online Safety Act, meaning that under this legislation technology companies must proactively remove this type of content from their platforms and use proportionate systems designed to minimise the risk of users from encountering such content. Law enforcement agencies continue to work with internet service providers to shut down UK-based websites found to be committing offences such as sale of illicit substances, this includes those operating on the dark web.
Further, to support people with drug dependency who may be at risk of synthetic opioid harm, £267 million has been invested in drug and alcohol treatment this year, improving the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment services in England.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle the illegal (a) sale, (b) distribution and (c) use of protonitazene.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government takes seriously the threat from potent synthetic drugs, including synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and nitazenes, including protonitazene, and is taking action. Reducing drug harms has important benefits for the Government’s mission to deliver safer streets, improve health outcomes and break down barriers to opportunity.
The HMG Synthetic Opioids Taskforce is working with partner agencies such as the National Crime Agency (NCA), the Department for Health and Social Care and the National Police Chiefs Council to counter the distribution and use of these dangerous substances.
To stem the supply of illicit synthetic opioids to and within the UK, the NCA, Police and Border Force are working together to ensure all lines of enquiry are prioritised and vigorously pursued. This involves mapping and targeting key offenders, including those operating within dark web markets, as well as training Border Force dogs to detect a range of nitazenes and fentanyl to stop these substances entering the country in the first place.
Fentanyl and protonitazene are both listed as Class A drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (MDA 1971). This means that the supply of these drugs carries a maximum penalty of up to life in prison, an unlimited fine or both. Possession carries a maximum penalty of up to 7 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both.
The Government has recently introduced a generic control for nitazenes which is intended to reduce the likelihood that criminals can circumvent existing controls by making minor alterations to the chemical structure of nitazenes that are already controlled as Class A drugs under the MDA 1971. This legislation came into force on 15 January.
Additionally, the unlawful sale of controlled drugs online is listed as a priority offence in the Online Safety Act, meaning that under this legislation technology companies must proactively remove this type of content from their platforms and use proportionate systems designed to minimise the risk of users from encountering such content. Law enforcement agencies continue to work with internet service providers to shut down UK-based websites found to be committing offences such as sale of illicit substances, this includes those operating on the dark web.
Further, to support people with drug dependency who may be at risk of synthetic opioid harm, £267 million has been invested in drug and alcohol treatment this year, improving the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment services in England.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the level of alcohol harm; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a national alcohol strategy.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has an action plan to reduce drug and alcohol-related deaths. In light of the recent data, this plan is being revised to ensure that it is grounded in the latest understanding of the drivers of drug and alcohol related deaths and responding to these. Last year, the Department of Health and Social Care published guidance for local authorities and their partnerships on how to review adult drug and alcohol-related deaths to prevent future deaths. Additionally, OHID has published the guidance, Commissioning Quality Standard: alcohol and drug services, for local authorities to support them in commissioning effective alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services.
In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department allocated local authorities £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. An additional £105 million from Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is improving treatment pathways and recovery, housing and employment outcomes for people affected by drug and alcohol use. Future targeted funding for drug and alcohol treatment services beyond 2025 will be announced very shortly.
Under the health mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to enable people to live longer, healthier lives.
The Department of Health and Social Care will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
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 help reduce the number of deaths that are directly attributable to alcohol.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
In 2023, there were 8,274 alcohol-specific deaths, deaths wholly due to alcohol, in England, which was an increase of 63.8% from the 5,050 deaths in 2006, and a 4.6% increase since 2022. The majority of these deaths are caused by alcohol-related liver disease.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has an action plan to reduce drug and alcohol-related deaths. In light of the recent data, this plan is being revised to ensure that it is grounded in the latest understanding of the drivers of drug and alcohol related deaths and is responding to these. Last year the Department published guidance for local authorities and their partnerships on how to review adult drug and alcohol-related deaths to prevent future deaths. Additionally, the OHID has published Commissioning Quality Standard: alcohol and drug services, providing guidance for local authorities to support them in commissioning effective alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services.
In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department allocated local authorities £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. An additional £105 million from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is improving treatment pathways and recovery, housing, and employment outcomes for people affected by drug and alcohol use. Future targeted funding for drug and alcohol treatment services beyond 2025 will be announced very shortly.
The Department will soon publish the United Kingdom’s clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment, which will include recommendations on arranging access for appropriate testing for liver disease, providing health assessments, and facilitating access to the appropriate treatment for people with co-occurring alcohol problems and physical or mental health conditions, as well as health promotion and harm reduction interventions. The Department continues to work with all local areas to address unmet need and drug and alcohol related deaths, and to drive improvements in the continuity of care. This includes the Unmet Need Toolkit which can be used by local areas to assess local need and plan to meet it.
Data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System for 2023/24 shows 261 adults received structured treatment for alcohol dependence in Slough, and 270 in West Berkshire. The latest available prevalence estimates for alcohol dependence, for 2019/20, with the rate per thousand people, shows a rate of 13.07 for Slough and 9.55 for West Berkshire. This compares to a rate of 13.75 for England. Between 2021/22 and 2023/24 the number of adults in treatment for alcohol increased by 26% in Slough and 43% in West Berkshire.
Combining the treatment and prevalence data can show the percentage of adults with an unmet treatment need. Nationally, in 2023/24, the rate of adults with a treatment need who were not receiving treatment was 77.6%, with Slough showing an unmet need of 81.2%, and West Berkshire of 77%. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.ndtms.net/ViewIt/Adult
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of treatment for people who are alcohol dependent in (a) Slough constituency and (b) Berkshire.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
In 2023, there were 8,274 alcohol-specific deaths, deaths wholly due to alcohol, in England, which was an increase of 63.8% from the 5,050 deaths in 2006, and a 4.6% increase since 2022. The majority of these deaths are caused by alcohol-related liver disease.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has an action plan to reduce drug and alcohol-related deaths. In light of the recent data, this plan is being revised to ensure that it is grounded in the latest understanding of the drivers of drug and alcohol related deaths and is responding to these. Last year the Department published guidance for local authorities and their partnerships on how to review adult drug and alcohol-related deaths to prevent future deaths. Additionally, the OHID has published Commissioning Quality Standard: alcohol and drug services, providing guidance for local authorities to support them in commissioning effective alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services.
In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department allocated local authorities £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. An additional £105 million from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is improving treatment pathways and recovery, housing, and employment outcomes for people affected by drug and alcohol use. Future targeted funding for drug and alcohol treatment services beyond 2025 will be announced very shortly.
The Department will soon publish the United Kingdom’s clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment, which will include recommendations on arranging access for appropriate testing for liver disease, providing health assessments, and facilitating access to the appropriate treatment for people with co-occurring alcohol problems and physical or mental health conditions, as well as health promotion and harm reduction interventions. The Department continues to work with all local areas to address unmet need and drug and alcohol related deaths, and to drive improvements in the continuity of care. This includes the Unmet Need Toolkit which can be used by local areas to assess local need and plan to meet it.
Data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System for 2023/24 shows 261 adults received structured treatment for alcohol dependence in Slough, and 270 in West Berkshire. The latest available prevalence estimates for alcohol dependence, for 2019/20, with the rate per thousand people, shows a rate of 13.07 for Slough and 9.55 for West Berkshire. This compares to a rate of 13.75 for England. Between 2021/22 and 2023/24 the number of adults in treatment for alcohol increased by 26% in Slough and 43% in West Berkshire.
Combining the treatment and prevalence data can show the percentage of adults with an unmet treatment need. Nationally, in 2023/24, the rate of adults with a treatment need who were not receiving treatment was 77.6%, with Slough showing an unmet need of 81.2%, and West Berkshire of 77%. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.ndtms.net/ViewIt/Adult
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Newcastle (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of data published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities on 3 December 2024 showing that the number of alcohol-specific deaths in England in 2023 was the highest on record; and what steps are they taking to reduce this number, particularly in the region of the North East region.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2023, there were 8,274 alcohol-specific deaths, namely deaths wholly due to alcohol, in England, which was an increase of 63.8% from 5,050 deaths in 2006 and a 4.6% increase since 2022. Most of these deaths are caused by alcohol-related liver disease. The North East of England has consistently seen the highest rate of alcohol deaths over the previous decade. Through our mission-driven Government, we will prioritise actions targeted at reversing this trend.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has an action plan to reduce drug and alcohol-related deaths. Considering the recent data, this plan is being revised to ensure that it is grounded in the latest understanding of the drivers of drug and alcohol related deaths and responding to these. Last year the Department of Health and Social Care published guidance for local authorities and their partnerships on how to review adult drug and alcohol-related deaths to prevent future deaths. Additionally, OHID has published Commissioning Quality Standard: alcohol and drug services, providing guidance for local authorities to support them in commissioning effective alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services. This is available on GOV.UK in an online-only format.
In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department of Health and Social Care allocated local authorities £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. An additional £105 million from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is improving treatment pathways and recovery, housing and employment outcomes for people affected by drug and alcohol use. Future targeted funding for drug and alcohol treatment services beyond 2025 will be announced very shortly.
The Department of Health and Social Care will soon publish the clinical guidelines for the United Kingdom on alcohol treatment which will include recommendations on arranging access for appropriate testing for liver disease, providing health assessments and facilitating access to appropriate treatment for people with co-occurring alcohol problems and physical or mental health conditions, health promotion and harm reduction interventions. The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work with all local areas to address unmet need and drug and alcohol related deaths, and to drive improvements in continuity of care. This includes the Unmet Need Toolkit which can be used by local areas to assess local need and plan to meet it.
In 2024/25, North East local authorities (LA) received £25.5 million to improve drug and alcohol treatment, recovery and inpatient detox provision. OHID is supporting LAs to use this funding to develop and improve services, including for people living with alcohol issues. All North East LAs have targets to increase the number of people receiving support for alcohol dependency from community treatment and access is increasing. The North East & North Cumbria Integrated Care System is collaborating to improve health and reduce health inequalities, including those associated with alcohol harm. A regional action plan, co-produced with all 12 Las, is in place and includes activity to strengthen alcohol harm prevention, harm reduction and recovery support.