Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of potential implications for his policies on productivity of the report by the IPPR entitled Taking stock: Counting the economic costs of alcohol harm, published on 8 October 2025.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I welcome the IPPR's report and its contribution to understanding the economic and social impact of alcohol harm. Employers have a legal duty to protect employees' health, safety, and welfare.
'Keep Britain Working' is bringing together the expertise of leading UK businesses to help prevent ill health at work wherever possible, and to support those affected stay in work. In the '10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future', we have committed to some crucial steps to help people make healthier choices about alcohol, making it a legal requirement for alcohol labels to display health warnings and consistent nutritional information.
This Government will continue to monitor alcohol-related harm and its economic impact.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of the report by the Drugs, Alcohol & Justice APPG entitled Action on Alcohol Harm – Priorities for Policymakers, published on 10 July 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has noted the publication of the Drugs, Alcohol & Justice APPG report, ‘Action on alcohol harm: prioritise for policymakers’.
The Government is committed to taking action to prevent the harms caused by alcohol and illicit drugs, and work is underway to progress several of the priorities highlighted.
To support better outcomes for people experiencing harmful and dependent drinking, we will shortly publish the first ever United Kingdom clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment. Furthermore, in 2025/26, in addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department is providing a total of £310 million in targeted grants to improve drug and alcohol treatment services and recovery support, including housing, employment and inpatient detoxification. Our 10-Year Health Plan commits to continued expansion of Individual Placement and Support schemes for people with alcohol addiction to find good work.
The Government is also progressing plan to introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking with (a) DHSC and (b) MHCLG to ensure (i) policing, (ii) health and (iii) local authority partnerships (A) identify and (B) respond effectively to individuals at risk of entering a cycle of reoffending.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Prolific offenders and those in a cycle of reoffending commit a disproportionate amount of crime and societal harm and generate outsized demand for the police, criminal justice system and public services, making them an important focus for intervention.
Every neighbourhood across England and Wales now has named and contactable neighbourhood officer, dedicated to addressing the issues that matter most by working closely with their communities, businesses, and partner agencies, using local intelligence to problem solve complex issues such as repeat offending.
The Government supports the use of diversion and early intervention, recognising that we cannot tackle prolific offending through policing alone. Police forces have a range of powers available, such as out of court resolutions, to divert offenders away from the criminal justice system where appropriate.
Drugs are a major cause of crime and continued investment in treatment and recovery services will be vital to help reduce levels of reoffending. Part of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Improvement Grant funds treatment and wraparound support for people sleeping rough or at risk of rough sleeping who have a drug need. This helps deliver integrated, cross-sector working in preventing homelessness and supporting substance misuse treatment and recovery.
In addition, Combating Drugs Partnerships play an important role in tackling prolific offending. These partnerships bring together police, probation, public health, the NHS and other local partners to deliver a whole-system, multi-agency response to drug-related harms, including tackling the crime and antisocial behaviour linked to drugs.
Overall, given the demand prolific offenders generate across various services and the complexity of their needs, the Home Office has ongoing discussions with other government Departments, the police, local authorities and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) on how to continue to strengthen our approach to this cohort.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what role neighbourhood policing teams play in identifying people at risk of repeated low-level offending linked to homelessness or substance misuse.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Prolific offenders and those in a cycle of reoffending commit a disproportionate amount of crime and societal harm and generate outsized demand for the police, criminal justice system and public services, making them an important focus for intervention.
Every neighbourhood across England and Wales now has named and contactable neighbourhood officer, dedicated to addressing the issues that matter most by working closely with their communities, businesses, and partner agencies, using local intelligence to problem solve complex issues such as repeat offending.
The Government supports the use of diversion and early intervention, recognising that we cannot tackle prolific offending through policing alone. Police forces have a range of powers available, such as out of court resolutions, to divert offenders away from the criminal justice system where appropriate.
Drugs are a major cause of crime and continued investment in treatment and recovery services will be vital to help reduce levels of reoffending. Part of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Improvement Grant funds treatment and wraparound support for people sleeping rough or at risk of rough sleeping who have a drug need. This helps deliver integrated, cross-sector working in preventing homelessness and supporting substance misuse treatment and recovery.
In addition, Combating Drugs Partnerships play an important role in tackling prolific offending. These partnerships bring together police, probation, public health, the NHS and other local partners to deliver a whole-system, multi-agency response to drug-related harms, including tackling the crime and antisocial behaviour linked to drugs.
Overall, given the demand prolific offenders generate across various services and the complexity of their needs, the Home Office has ongoing discussions with other government Departments, the police, local authorities and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) on how to continue to strengthen our approach to this cohort.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the role of (a) early intervention and (b) diversion in reducing reoffending among repeat offenders.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Prolific offenders and those in a cycle of reoffending commit a disproportionate amount of crime and societal harm and generate outsized demand for the police, criminal justice system and public services, making them an important focus for intervention.
Every neighbourhood across England and Wales now has named and contactable neighbourhood officer, dedicated to addressing the issues that matter most by working closely with their communities, businesses, and partner agencies, using local intelligence to problem solve complex issues such as repeat offending.
The Government supports the use of diversion and early intervention, recognising that we cannot tackle prolific offending through policing alone. Police forces have a range of powers available, such as out of court resolutions, to divert offenders away from the criminal justice system where appropriate.
Drugs are a major cause of crime and continued investment in treatment and recovery services will be vital to help reduce levels of reoffending. Part of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Improvement Grant funds treatment and wraparound support for people sleeping rough or at risk of rough sleeping who have a drug need. This helps deliver integrated, cross-sector working in preventing homelessness and supporting substance misuse treatment and recovery.
In addition, Combating Drugs Partnerships play an important role in tackling prolific offending. These partnerships bring together police, probation, public health, the NHS and other local partners to deliver a whole-system, multi-agency response to drug-related harms, including tackling the crime and antisocial behaviour linked to drugs.
Overall, given the demand prolific offenders generate across various services and the complexity of their needs, the Home Office has ongoing discussions with other government Departments, the police, local authorities and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) on how to continue to strengthen our approach to this cohort.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to support Police and Crime Commissioners to implement local strategies to reduce reoffending among repeat offenders.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Prolific offenders and those in a cycle of reoffending commit a disproportionate amount of crime and societal harm and generate outsized demand for the police, criminal justice system and public services, making them an important focus for intervention.
Every neighbourhood across England and Wales now has named and contactable neighbourhood officer, dedicated to addressing the issues that matter most by working closely with their communities, businesses, and partner agencies, using local intelligence to problem solve complex issues such as repeat offending.
The Government supports the use of diversion and early intervention, recognising that we cannot tackle prolific offending through policing alone. Police forces have a range of powers available, such as out of court resolutions, to divert offenders away from the criminal justice system where appropriate.
Drugs are a major cause of crime and continued investment in treatment and recovery services will be vital to help reduce levels of reoffending. Part of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Improvement Grant funds treatment and wraparound support for people sleeping rough or at risk of rough sleeping who have a drug need. This helps deliver integrated, cross-sector working in preventing homelessness and supporting substance misuse treatment and recovery.
In addition, Combating Drugs Partnerships play an important role in tackling prolific offending. These partnerships bring together police, probation, public health, the NHS and other local partners to deliver a whole-system, multi-agency response to drug-related harms, including tackling the crime and antisocial behaviour linked to drugs.
Overall, given the demand prolific offenders generate across various services and the complexity of their needs, the Home Office has ongoing discussions with other government Departments, the police, local authorities and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) on how to continue to strengthen our approach to this cohort.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the recommendations in his Department's policy paper entitled Licensing policy sprint: joint industry and HM government taskforce report, published on 31 July 2025, on the (a) ill health to prevention workstream of the Health Mission Board and (b) specific priority of tackling alcohol harm within the Health Mission Board.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the Licensing Taskforce, which was jointly let by the Department for Business and Trade and industry, the Government is considering which recommendations to take forward. As part of this, the Government is inviting views and evidence to inform the development of a modern, proportionate, and enabling licensing system, including public health considerations. This work is being led by the Department for Business and Trade and the Home Office with support from other departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care.
A Call for Evidence is currently open until 6 November in order to gather views and evidence to inform proposals for reforms to licensing. This is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/reforming-the-licensing-system
Public health considerations will be kept under review. Any legislative changes will be subject to an impact assessment, consultation, and parliamentary scrutiny.
We will continue to work across Government to consider what other measures might be needed to reduce the negative impact that excessive alcohol consumption is having on health, crime, and the economy.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the Licensing Taskforce requested assessments of the potential impact of post-pandemic changes to drinking patterns on (a) crime, (b) violence and (c) anti-social behaviour; and whether those assessments were provided to the taskforce.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Licensing Taskforce did not request assessments of the potential impact of post-pandemic changes to drinking patterns on (a) crime, (b) violence and (c) anti-social behaviour; however its membership included the National Police Chiefs Council’s lead for Alcohol Harm. Since the Taskforce reported, a cross-government team has been established to review its findings and a Call for Evidence was launched. This is open until 6 November. We continue to seek a wide range of views and evidence to inform the development of a modern, proportionate and enabling licensing system. Any legislative reforms will be subject to impact assessment, consultation and parliamentary scrutiny.
The Call for Evidence is currently open until 6 November in order to gather views and evidence to inform proposals for reforms to licensing. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/reforming-the-licensing-system.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of his proposed licensing reforms on levels of alcohol-related (a) deaths and (b) harm.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is inviting views and evidence to inform the development of a modern, proportionate and enabling licensing system.
A Call for Evidence is currently open until 6 November in order to gather views and evidence to inform proposals for reforms to licensing. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/reforming-the-licensing-system. No assessment has yet been made of the impact of any reforms on alcohol-related deaths or harm. Any legislative changes will be subject to an impact assessment, consultation and parliamentary scrutiny.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the role of industry advertising in reducing the rate of alcohol harms.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As highlighted in the Fit for the Future: 10-Year Health Plan for England, the Government recognises that alcohol harms are increasing in the United Kingdom, and that to help tackle these harms a multi-faceted approach that includes prevention, harm reduction, and treatment is required.
In the plan, the Government has committed to increasing the awareness of the harms by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages.
There are several pieces of research underway which will strengthen the evidence base on the impact of alcohol marketing on the levels of consumption and the associated harms. Alongside the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, we will consider this new evidence when it is available.