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Written Question
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Thursday 17th May 2018

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to provide (a) support and (b) assistance to the families of chronic alcoholics.

Answered by Steve Brine

Support and advice for families of chronic alcoholics takes place at a local treatment level. Public Health England produces guidance and data, for each local authority to support planning and commissioning of alcohol interventions. This guidance includes good practice for local authority and National Health Service joint planning of secondary care alcohol specialist provision as part of their wider integrated system of alcohol interventions. Further information is available at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-drugs-and-tobacco-commissioning-support-pack

This commissioning support pack helps commissioners and local authorities develop joint strategic needs assessment and health and wellbeing strategies to reduce the harm caused by smoking, drinking, substance use and misuse in both adults and children.

Additionally on 23 April the Government announced a package of measures designed to help identify at-risk children more quickly, and provide greater access to support and advice for both children and parents. The programme, backed by £6 million in joint funding from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions, is designed to help an estimated 200,000 children in England living with alcohol-dependent parents and develop interventions to reduce parental conflict within those families.


Written Question
Alcoholism
Tuesday 18th July 2017

Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on developing a national strategy for children of alcoholics.

Answered by Steve Brine

The Government is considering what further support it can provide to tackle alcohol harms, focusing on vulnerable groups including families and children.


Written Question
Alcoholism
Tuesday 4th July 2017

Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will bring forward a strategy to support the children of alcoholics.

Answered by Steve Brine

The Government is considering what further support it can provide to tackle alcohol harms, focusing on vulnerable groups including families and children.


Written Question
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Tuesday 14th March 2017

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support the children of alcoholics.

Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford

Alcohol addiction has a devastating impact on individuals and their families and it is unacceptable that children bear the brunt of their parents’ condition.

Public Health England is undertaking a range of measures to address this issue. This includes improving the evidence base; enhancing data; ensuring local authorities are given high quality advice and support in relation to alcohol treatment services, and any safeguarding implications; and social marketing.

The Government has also put in place a range of measures to help ensure children are provided with accurate information and the tools they need to make informed decisions about their relationship with alcohol. This includes through the FRANK drug information and advice service; Family Nurse Partnerships to help parents within potentially vulnerable families to develop their parenting capacity; and tailored and co-ordinated support via the Troubled Families programme.

The Department is also meeting with Parliamentarians and stakeholders to investigate what more can be done to reduce the harms of addiction and provide more support to children and their families.

A strategy is being developed to ensure that the children of alcoholics are given the support they need.


Written Question
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
Wednesday 11th May 2016

Asked by: Tania Mathias (Conservative - Twickenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support the children and families of alcoholics.

Answered by Jane Ellison

Public Health England (PHE) is engaged in a work programme which aims to reduce alcohol-related harm to individuals, families and society. PHE works closely with local authorities to support their work of assessing local alcohol-related need and commissioning services and support to meet that need, including identification and brief advice, alcohol treatment and helping ensure that young people’s substance misuse services target vulnerable young people.

PHE is producing a report on the harm alcohol causes to people other than the drinker, in collaboration with governments in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This report will look at the impact of alcohol on others, including the children of parents with alcohol problems. It is due to published this year.

PHE will also provide estimates of the number of children likely to be affected by their parents’ alcohol use and provide advice to national and local government on where action could have the greatest impact on improving life chances.


Written Question
Child Rearing
Wednesday 2nd March 2016

Asked by: Lord Ouseley (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they are giving to providing support for the estimated 2.5 million children being brought up by parents who are heavy alcohol drinkers.

Answered by Lord Nash

We are clear that all children at risk of abuse or neglect – including those children who may be a risk because of their parent’s alcoholism – must be identified early, have timely and proportionate assessments of their individual needs, and have the right services provided at the right time.

That is why the Government has put in place a range of cross-Government programmes and funding to support children and families, including children of alcoholics. We have invested more than £8 billion to help councils put services in place to protect children at risk of abuse or neglect, including from alcoholic parents. We have encouraged councils to find new ways to tackle problems through our £100m children’s social care Innovation Programme. And we have expanded the Troubled Families programme launched in April 2015, which offers support on health issues to up to 400,000 families, including for alcohol and drug misuse.


Written Question
Alcoholism
Monday 19th October 2015

Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of children who are the children of alcoholics.

Answered by Jane Ellison

The main source for estimates of children of alcohol-misusing parents comes from a 2009 research paper which provided new estimates of the number of children (under 16 years) of substance misusing parents. The report found:

- 6% living with a dependent drinker (over 700,000 children);

- Around 26,000 babies under the age of one in England living with a parent who would be classified as a ‘dependent’ drinker.


Written Question
Alcoholism
Monday 19th October 2015

Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department's strategy is for supporting children who are the children of alcoholics; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Jane Ellison

Parents play a crucial role in how their children develop and behave and act as role models for them and we recognise that parental alcohol dependency can limit parenting capacity and this can have serious consequences for children.


A number of initiatives to ensure that children have the best possible start in life have been introduced:

- the national Healthy Child Programme supports children’s health and development, by providing parenting support and health promotion guidance; and

- the expanded Troubled Families programme launched in April 2015 offers support on health issues to up to 400,000 families, including for alcohol and drug misuse.


We have given local authorities more than £8 billion in funding over three years so they can put the right services in place to help their communities.


Public Health England’s role in supporting local authorities undertake their public health functions is vital in reducing the levels of alcohol harm and supporting young people with parents who are alcohol dependent.

As part of this Public Health England funded the “Alcohol and other Drug use: The Roles and Capabilities of Social Workers”. This guidance sets out the key roles for social workers in relation to substance misuse.


Written Question
Alcoholism
Monday 19th October 2015

Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of children who are the children of alcoholics who go on to misuse alcohol.

Answered by Jane Ellison

This data is not available centrally.


Written Question
Alcoholism
Monday 19th October 2015

Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of children who are the children of alcoholics in each local authority area.

Answered by Jane Ellison

This data is not available centrally.