Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Baroness Merron Excerpts

Thursday 25th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hyde of Bemerton]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve awareness and reduce the prevalence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)]

My Lords, we continue to promote the advice of the Chief Medical Officers in the UK that pregnant women or those planning a pregnancy should avoid alcohol, alongside promoting the NICE quality standards on FASD. We are committed to ensuring that all pregnant women with alcohol problems are supported to reduce the risk of harm to them and the foetus. This includes providing local authorities, through the public health grant, with £3.4 billion of funding for alcohol and drug treatment and recovery over the next three years.

[Baroness Hyde of Bemerton (Lab)]

Labour Governments have a hugely successful track record of improving the health of the population, for example, reducing smoking in public places and the recent range of measures in the Tobacco and Vapes Act. Research evidence suggests that the impact of drinking alcohol in pregnancy—any amount of alcohol—may be comparable or greater than the risks of smoking. Therefore, would the Minister undertake to review all opportunities for enhancing prevention, such as adding foetal alcohol spectrum disorder prevention measures to the recent women’s health strategy, strategies for sexual and reproductive health and the interim mental health strategy? Will she also work with colleagues to ensure that FASD education and prevention is a policy priority for local authority health teams?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

My noble friend is quite right. There are tremendous opportunities to link up work on tackling foetal alcohol spectrum disorder with other parts of our work, not least the major principle of moving from treatment of sickness to prevention. I assure my noble friend that we are working across government. We will also continue to work with all local areas so that we can address unmet need, prioritise prevention and make sure that we have improvements to alcohol treatment services. All of these will make a difference.

[Baroness Walmsley (LD)]

My Lords, according to the association for FASD, every prevented case saves over £400,000 in lifetime costs, as well as the personal tragedy. Universal antenatal alcohol history taking is recommended by NICE guidelines, but implementation remains variable. Will the Government embed NICE guidelines everywhere, alongside a national public health campaign on alcohol in pregnancy, equivalent to the effective existing smoking in pregnancy campaign?

[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.

[Baroness Nargund (Lab)]

My Lords, no amount of alcohol is considered to be safe in pregnancy. Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder—FASD—affects roughly one child in every classroom of 25 children, and it is a preventable neurodevelopmental disorder. A report published just two days ago by the National Organisation for FASD suggests that inaction in addressing this problem is costing the UK economy £9.2 billion annually. As most people in the UK drink alcohol, and as nearly half of pregnancies are unplanned and one-third of births are unplanned or associated with feelings of ambivalence, I ask my noble friend the Minister: do the Government have any plans to extend the public health campaign to pre-conception clinics and to advise women who are planning to get pregnant? That requires pre-conception advice, as so many pregnancies are unplanned. Will the Government also link that to school education, please?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

My noble friend is quite right about the potentially lasting effects of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder on children, which is why the main priority is preventing it. There are three approaches. First, the clear advice—the safest approach, if you are pregnant or could become pregnant—is not to drink alcohol, and that will remain consistent. I have just referred to the legal requirement for alcohol labels. We will of course continue to look at how prevention messaging can best reach people pre conception. The obvious point here is that so many pregnancies are not planned, so there is no neat solution to getting to the right people. We have to get our messaging right, which is why we are taking the approach we are.

[Lord Evans of Rainow (Con)]

My Lords, the Department of Health and Social Care’s own health needs assessment noted that there are still no reliable prevalence studies for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder in England, despite estimates suggesting that the UK may have one of the highest rates in Europe. How can the Government effectively reduce the prevalence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder when they still do not know with confidence how many children and adults are living with the condition? What steps have the Government taken to improve diagnosis and data collection?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The noble Lord is quite right that we are working on estimates, and there are a number of practical reasons for that. To come to the noble Lord’s real point, the first National Institute for Health and Care Research challenge funding call was launched in 2024, backed by £50 million. That tasked researchers and policymakers with finding new ways to tackle maternity disparities and poor pregnancy outcomes, and clearly that will support further research and policy. So we are looking to the future and I take on that challenge; it is one that we are meeting.

[Baroness Hollins (CB)]

My Lords, of course prevention is important, but does the noble Baroness agree that children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder need continuing specialist education and support throughout life, as do their families, many of whom of course are adoptive families?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is quite right. This is one of the many reasons that I am enthusiastic, as we move towards the single patient record. We will absolutely ensure that carers and parents—however families are formed, because of course they are formed in different ways—are part of our consideration. The noble Baroness is absolutely right about that.

[Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)]

As my noble friend said, this is important before people become pregnant. Many people who become pregnant are of course young women, but so much of the advertising by the alcohol industry is aimed at exactly those youngsters. Although I take the point from the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, about not involving the industry in the solutions, I do think that the Government should talk about advertising that is not aimed at young women, because they are exactly the ones who might become pregnant.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

On the matter of advertising, particularly when we think about other areas as well, we work on the basis that we are not banning alcohol use: I absolutely know that my noble friend is not asking for that. I am sure that would not be popular in your Lordships’ House, so it is probably good that I put it on record. However, what matters is that we are all equipped to make the right health decisions and are actively supported, not just through information. Industry has a role to play in promoting responsible drinking, which is important in pregnancy and in general terms as well. It is one of the health risks that we need to tackle. As we move to create the healthiest generation ever, our work on alcohol as well as tobacco and obesity is absolutely key.