Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what processes are in place to ensure that findings from Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs) involving addiction related deaths are embedded consistently in national guidance, NHS workforce training, and commissioning standards.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government takes the findings from Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs), including those where substance dependence was a feature in deaths very seriously, and expects them to inform practice, guidance, and commissioning at both a local and national level.

The processes for this is through the SAR escalation protocol and the national SAR analysis. All Safeguarding Adults Board members and relevant organisations are required to cooperate with SARs and implement findings locally, including through local commissioning and workforce training. The national SAR analysis then allows us to review at a national level.

The recently published Clinical Guidelines for Alcohol Treatment were informed by national SAR analysis and therefore include specific recommendations on adult safeguarding, summarise relevant legislation and guidance, and signpost to this national SAR analysis and associated good practice briefings, including on homelessness. The Department and NHS England are working with the drug and alcohol treatment sector to ensure that their workforce is sustainable, multidisciplinary, and equipped with the capabilities and capacity to help people to reduce risk and initiate and sustain recovery. The Department and NHS England published a 10-year strategic plan for the drug and alcohol treatment and recovery workforce (2024–2034) in May 2024, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/10-year-strategic-plan-for-the-drug-and-alcohol-treatment-and-recovery-workforce-2024-2034/

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve military housing.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The last government had 14 years to fix Defence family housing and failed, delivering instead record low levels of satisfaction.

We reversed the disastrous privatisation of military housing.

And our landmark £9 billion housing strategy will renew or repair 9 in 10 homes and we are legislating to create a new Defence Housing Service which will put the interests of service personnel first.

We have already rapidly improved military homes transforming 1,000 of the worst homes – ahead of schedule.

Labour has delivered more in eighteen months than the party opposite managed in fourteen years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to include addiction or substance use disorder within the statutory definition of a mental disorder for the purposes of the Mental Health Act.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Mental Health Act 1983, specifically Section 1, subsection 3, states that “Dependence on alcohol or drugs is not considered to be a disorder or disability of the mind” for the purposes of the act, and we did not amend this in the Mental Health Act 2025 that passed in December. We have no plans to change the definition of mental disorder.

We know that people with co-occurring substance use and mental health needs do not receive the integrated, person-centred care they require and deserve. The Department and NHS England have recently published Co-occurring mental health and substance use delivery framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/co-occurring-mental-health-and-substance-use-delivery-framework

This framework commits the Department and NHS England to delivering several national actions to improve delivery of integrated, person-centred care across drug and alcohol treatment and mental health services. The framework also includes recommended actions on how the health system can also work together to improve outcomes for those with co-occurring needs.

Found: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat; Richmond Park) Tristan Osborne (Labour; Chatham and Aylesford) Michael Payne

Found: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat; Richmond Park) Tristan Osborne (Labour; Chatham and Aylesford) Michael Payne

Found: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat; Richmond Park) Tristan Osborne (Labour; Chatham and Aylesford) Michael Payne

Found: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat; Richmond Park) Tristan Osborne (Labour; Chatham and Aylesford) Michael Payne

Found: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat; Richmond Park) Tristan Osborne (Labour; Chatham and Aylesford) Michael Payne