Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the voluntary sector about how they might assist with the roll-out of the alcohol, abstinence and monitoring requirement across England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The legislation required to introduce alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirements in England and Wales is still subject to approval by Parliament. As yet, we have not had any discussions with the voluntary sector about how it could assist. More widely, we are engaged in ongoing dialogue with the voluntary sector around support for offenders with addiction issues.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on alcohol consumption from the changes in duty policy since 2012.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
HMRC publishes a Tax Information Impact Note explaining the impact of alcohol consumption, each time a duty rate is amended. Tax Information Impact Notes are published on GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of inequality of access to drug and alcohol services for offenders across the UK; and what steps they are taking to address any such inequalities.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Revolving Doors Agency, with support from Public Health England (PHE) and the Home Office, published Rebalancing Act in January 2017. The report addresses inequalities among offenders, including inequalities in accessing drug and alcohol services to help improve public safety, prevent offending and reoffending and reduce crime. It found that people in contact with the criminal justice system experience barriers to accessing services, because of complex health and social care needs, challenging personal and social circumstances and poorly designed services. A copy of the report is attached.
PHE takes steps to address any inequalities that offenders experience in accessing drug and alcohol services. This includes producing guidance to support local authorities and NHS England and NHS Improvement in commissioning services for people in contact with the criminal justice system.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the reduction of NHS-operated drug and alcohol services on the training of psychiatrists; and what steps they are taking to address any shortfall in addiction-specialised psychiatrists.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
No formal assessment has been made.
However, the Royal College of Psychiatrists is undertaking research to understand the issues with recruiting additional psychiatrists and how these might be resolved. The results of this work are due to be published imminently, and we will work with the Royal College of Psychiatrists to support them in taking forward any recommendations. This will form part of our efforts to meet our commitment in the Prevention Green Paper, Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s, to developing a shared understanding of the difficulties facing the wider substance misuse workforce. In addition, we are holding a United Kingdom-wide ministerial drugs summit on 27 February, launching the next phase of the Dame Carol Black Review, and developing an addictions strategy, all of which will pick up on this theme.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for protecting, or increasing, current levels of investment in drug and alcohol services.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need and commissioning services to meet identified needs, including for drug and alcohol dependence, using the ring-fenced public health grant. The ring-fence requiring the grant to be spent on public health, including drug and alcohol services, remains in place for 2020/21. The grant will increase in real terms in 2020/21 meaning local authorities can continue to invest in prevention and essential frontline health services.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the response by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 21 January (HL Deb, col 1043), what instructions they have given Public Health England about monitoring and assessing the efficacy of minimum unit pricing in Scotland; and when will Public Health England be reporting any such findings.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Public Health England have not been formally commissioned to undertake a review of the evidence of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) in Scotland. However, as part of their role in gathering evidence across areas to feed into the policy making process they are monitoring progress of MUP in Scotland and working closely with partners there to understand the impact of the policy. The Scottish Government is taking forward a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of introducing MUP. The Scottish legislation also includes a sunset clause and the Scottish Government are required to present a report on the impact of MUP to their Parliament five years after implementation. which will be published in 2023.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the findings of the report by NHS Health Scotland Evaluating the impacts of minimum unit pricing for alcohol on the alcoholic drinks industry in Scotland, published on 2 October 2019, what plans they have to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol in England.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Minimum Unit Price (MUP) has been in place in Scotland for less than two years and the Scottish Parliament will not consider its extension until 2024. A decision on its introduction in England is for the future.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the purchase price of methadone, per unit, paid by the NHS in England in (1) 2005, (2) 2010, (3) 2015, and (4) 2019.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average annual cost per person of methadone (1) treatment, and (2) supervision.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have assessed the value for money that the methadone programme in England represents; if so, what was the outcome of any such assessment; and if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.