Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they intend to provide (1) to the NHS, and (2) to other areas of society, to tackle the effects of alcohol consumption.

Alcohol is a cross-cutting issue affecting several Government departments. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England and NHS Improvement have invested £27 million in a four year programme between 2019/20 and 2023/24 to both establish and improve alcohol care teams to provide specialist alcohol interventions in hospitals where needed. Implementation is estimated to prevent 50,000 admissions over five years.

Furthermore, we have made the largest increase in substance misuse treatment funding for 15 years, with £80 million of new investment in 2021/22. £9.8 million of this has been made available for medically managed inpatient detoxification units, crucial for treating those most dependent on alcohol and drugs. This funding is in addition to the money local authorities already spend on substance misuse from the public health grant.

The focus of the newly established Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is on improving the nation’s health and levelling up health disparities. This includes tackling alcohol-related health harms.

This year, we are delivering £52 million for substance misuse treatment services for people sleeping rough, building on £23 million in 2020/21. This will fund evidence-based drug and alcohol treatment and wraparound support to improve access to treatment, including for those with co-occurring mental health needs.