Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2021 to Question 11460, if she will ask the ACMD to advise whether alcohol and tobacco should be controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; and for what reasons her Department makes a distinction between alcohol and tobacco and controlled drugs when there is no provision in the MDA that specifically excludes legally regulated drugs such as alcohol and tobacco.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
We have no plans to control alcohol or tobacco under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and no plans to commission advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) on this matter. Parliament considered arguments about their inclusion at the time of the Bill’s passage, including the reasons for the distinction between them and controlled drugs. Alcohol is regulated under the Licensing Act 2003 in England and Wales and tobacco is regulated under The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.
Asked by: Crispin Blunt (Independent - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of (a) the likelihood of alcohol and tobacco being misused, (b) the risk of alcohol and tobacco misuse causing harmful effects sufficient to constitute a social problem and (c) the effectiveness of excluding alcohol and tobacco from control of harmful drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No recent assessment has been made.
The Government is committed to supporting the most vulnerable at risk from alcohol misuse, including through establishing alcohol care teams in hospitals and supporting children of alcohol dependent parents. We will be publishing a new Tobacco Control Plan later this year setting out plans for England to become a smoke-free country by 2030.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the publication of the Prevention green paper in July, what steps they plan to take to address and prevent alcohol harm.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Government is committed to tackling health harms from alcohol and to support the most vulnerable at risk from alcohol misuse. The Prevention Green Paper Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s outlines how we will help people moderate their drinking by working with industry to deliver a significant increase in the availability of alcohol-free and low-alcohol products by 2025. The Government will engage with industry and other stakeholders around delivering this objective.
Lower socioeconomic status is associated with higher mortality for alcohol-attributable causes, despite lower socioeconomic groups often reporting lower levels of consumption. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, we are establishing specialist Alcohol Care Teams in hospitals with the highest rates of alcohol harm. It is estimated that this will prevent 50,000 admissions over five years. Local authorities will also receive over £3 billion in 2019/20 to be used exclusively on public health including alcohol treatment services. Public Health England is supporting NHS England’s tobacco and alcohol commissioning for quality and innovation scheme, which encourages hospitals to screen all inpatients about their alcohol use and offer appropriate interventions.
The UK Chief Medical Officers issued Low Risk Drinking Guidelines in 2016 so that people could make informed choices about their own drinking and the Government has worked with industry to ensure information on the health harms of alcohol are printed clearly on the labelling of alcoholic drinks.
The Government has also made funding of £6 million available to support children who live with an alcohol dependent parent which will address the inequalities facing this vulnerable group.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent alcohol harm and reduce health inequalities.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Government is committed to tackling health harms from alcohol and to support the most vulnerable at risk from alcohol misuse. The Prevention Green Paper Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s outlines how we will help people moderate their drinking by working with industry to deliver a significant increase in the availability of alcohol-free and low-alcohol products by 2025. The Government will engage with industry and other stakeholders around delivering this objective.
Lower socioeconomic status is associated with higher mortality for alcohol-attributable causes, despite lower socioeconomic groups often reporting lower levels of consumption. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, we are establishing specialist Alcohol Care Teams in hospitals with the highest rates of alcohol harm. It is estimated that this will prevent 50,000 admissions over five years. Local authorities will also receive over £3 billion in 2019/20 to be used exclusively on public health including alcohol treatment services. Public Health England is supporting NHS England’s tobacco and alcohol commissioning for quality and innovation scheme, which encourages hospitals to screen all inpatients about their alcohol use and offer appropriate interventions.
The UK Chief Medical Officers issued Low Risk Drinking Guidelines in 2016 so that people could make informed choices about their own drinking and the Government has worked with industry to ensure information on the health harms of alcohol are printed clearly on the labelling of alcoholic drinks.
The Government has also made funding of £6 million available to support children who live with an alcohol dependent parent which will address the inequalities facing this vulnerable group.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of alcohol on health, and health inequalities; and what plans they have to prevent alcohol harm.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Government is committed to tackling health harms from alcohol and to support the most vulnerable at risk from alcohol misuse. The Prevention Green Paper Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s outlines how we will help people moderate their drinking by working with industry to deliver a significant increase in the availability of alcohol-free and low-alcohol products by 2025. The Government will engage with industry and other stakeholders around delivering this objective.
Lower socioeconomic status is associated with higher mortality for alcohol-attributable causes, despite lower socioeconomic groups often reporting lower levels of consumption. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, we are establishing specialist Alcohol Care Teams in hospitals with the highest rates of alcohol harm. It is estimated that this will prevent 50,000 admissions over five years. Local authorities will also receive over £3 billion in 2019/20 to be used exclusively on public health including alcohol treatment services. Public Health England is supporting NHS England’s tobacco and alcohol commissioning for quality and innovation scheme, which encourages hospitals to screen all inpatients about their alcohol use and offer appropriate interventions.
The UK Chief Medical Officers issued Low Risk Drinking Guidelines in 2016 so that people could make informed choices about their own drinking and the Government has worked with industry to ensure information on the health harms of alcohol are printed clearly on the labelling of alcoholic drinks.
The Government has also made funding of £6 million available to support children who live with an alcohol dependent parent which will address the inequalities facing this vulnerable group.