Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce underage drinking.

Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need and commissioning prevention initiatives and alcohol and drug services for young people, using the public health grant.

Public Health England (PHE) and the Home Office fund Mentor UK’s Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Information Service which provides evidence-based practical advice and tools, including briefing sheets for teachers, available to view at the following link:

http://mentor-adepis.org/

PHE’s Rise Above social marketing programme aims to equip 11 to 16 year olds with the skills required to reject or manage risky behaviours, including drinking alcohol. It reaches young people via social media and provides accredited lesson plans for use in secondary schools. The Rise Above website is available at the following link:

https://riseabove.org.uk/

The protection of children is one of four licensing objectives that local licensing authorities are required to uphold. A mandatory licence condition requires all licensed premises to have a policy on age verification and to require anyone who appears under 18 to verify their age.