Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Thursday 25th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

In addition to the ring-fenced funding I spoke of, we are going further on alcohol labels to get across the important points. In 2022, NICE produced and published a quality standard, which the noble Baroness referred to, so that the system can help diagnose but also support those affected by FASD. I am not aware of there being widespread difficulties with its adoption, because it is so fundamental to pre-pregnancy and pregnancy care, but, if the noble Baroness has particular examples, I would of course be pleased to look into them.

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)]

My Lords, the Government’s initiatives on alcohol prevention in pregnancy are to be welcomed and are very impressive, but can the Minister assure us that the industry itself will not be involved in consultations and in designing public health programmes? To date, the tiny pictograms on bottles, particularly of wine and other alcohol products, are so small that they are ineffective. We really need consistent messaging in a much broader sphere where people eat out, drink out and socialise, and in all public health measures.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I take the noble Baroness’s point, which is why I am glad that we committed in the 10-year health plan to making it a legal requirement—therefore strengthening it—that alcohol labels display health warnings and consistent nutritional information. That is something else that noble Lords have raised. As was referred to in the previous question, it is also important that we note that part of care for pregnant women is dealing with alcohol consumption.