Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what programmes are in place to support people with addictions.

The Government takes the issues of addiction seriously and recognises the harms they can cause to an individual and those around them. Anyone concerned about an addiction should initially approach their general practitioner for advice. Local authorities are responsible for assessing the needs of their local population and commissioning services to meet these needs, including commissioning services to support people to recover from alcohol and drug dependence. We are supporting them in this through the provision of data, guidance and targeted support and funding via the Public Health Grant. The public health grant will increase in real terms in 2020/21. This means local authorities can continue to invest in prevention and essential frontline health services.