Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce in the forthcoming alcohol strategy a new national minimum standard of support for families affected by alcohol as called for by the Alcohol and Families Alliance.

Government officials are currently exploring what should be included in the strategy and aim to publish this early next year following discussions with stakeholders. The new strategy will allow us to consider the changing landscape of alcohol use and to target vulnerable people who need support most with effective, evidence-based interventions. Understanding the needs of families or carers who support people with an alcohol dependence will be an important part of the development of the strategy and £6 million of new funding has been announced to help improve outcomes for children of alcohol dependent parents and help to tackle conflict within those families.

The Government is committed to continuing to support informal carers, and to do so in a way that supports their own health and wellbeing, employment and other life chances. We also remain committed to support informal carers to provide care for those they care for. That is why the Department published a cross-Government action plan of targeted work to support carers over the next two years. Further information is available at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/carers-action-plan-2018-to-2020