Education plays an important role in helping to ensure that young people are equipped

with the information they need to make informed, healthy decisions and to keep themselves safe.

Public Health England is working on a range of actions to support young people limit their alcohol consumption, including:

- Delivering the ‘Rise Above’ campaign which is a digital platform that uses interactive and engaging content to delay and prevent young people from engaging in exploratory behaviours, including drinking alcohol.

- Helping schools to draw on expert advice and develop evidence-based practice, including funding the Alcohol and Drug Education and Drug Education and Prevention Information Service, run by Mentor UK.

- Managing the FRANK information and advice service that provides tailored information and advice to young people and to parents, to help them protect their children from drug and/or alcohol misuse.

Upper tier authorities have been given the responsibility to improve the health of their population, including responsibility for tackling problem drinking and commissioning appropriate prevention and treatment services. Over the next five years, we will invest more than £16 billion in local government public health services.

The UK Chief Medical Officers’ Low Risk Drinking Guidelines provide the public with the most up to date scientific information to help people make informed decisions about their own drinking. A copy of the Guidelines is attached.

Upper tier authorities have been given the responsibility to improve the health of their population. This includes responsibility for tackling problem drinking and commissioning appropriate prevention and treatment services. Over the next five years, we will invest more than £16 billion in local government public health services.

Public Health England (PHE) is also investing in, or otherwise supporting, a number of programmes to support people over the retirement age who are drinking more than the recommended weekly limits, including:

- The NHS Health Check which reaches adults aged 40-74 and includes an alcohol risk assessment. If found to be drinking above the lower-risk guidelines, patients are offered brief advice to encourage them to reduce their drinking.

- The One You website which offers advice and information about alcohol, and tools which help people monitor their drinking. These include:

- The interactive ‘How Are You?’ quiz which includes structured questions on alcohol consumption based on the short AUDIT C questionnaire and delivers personalised messaging, including information on units and tips to reduce consumption.

- The Drinks Tracker app – a mobile app designed to support users to accurately track their consumption, providing feedback on units and calories consumed and tips on ways to cut down.

- On Monday 14 November, PHE launched a web-based single occasion checking tool that will provide information and support to identify risk levels and reduce alcohol consumption.

NHS England’s NHS Five Year Forward View commits the National Health Service to support national action on alcohol. The National Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) payments framework was set up in 2009-10 to encourage services providers to continually improve the quality of care provided to patients and to achieve transparency. To help deliver their commitment to reduce harmful alcohol consumption, NHS England has published a CQUIN to incentivise interventions to reduce risky behaviours and prevent ill health through alcohol consumption. This has a number of components, including alcohol screening, brief advice and referral to specialist services.

The Public Health England alcohol evidence review and peer review process is now complete and we expect this to be published shortly.

The Public Health England alcohol evidence review and peer review process is now complete and we expect this to be published shortly.

We have made no such assessment.

Figures of the cost to the National Health Service of alcohol misuse are not available on an annual basis.

The most recent estimate from Public Health England (PHE) for 2014 is that alcohol costs the NHS around £3.5 billion per annum. The Department estimates that just under half of that is due to alcohol related inpatient admissions to hospital. This information is available in the public domain, as evidenced by PHE’s report Alcohol and drugs prevention, treatment and recovery: why invest?, Public Health England. A copy is attached.

The new UK Chief Medical Officers’ Low Risk Drinking Guidelines provide the public with the most up to date scientific information to help people make informed decisions about their own drinking. A copy of the guidelines is attached.

The Department and Public Health England (PHE) will be reviewing the advice on higher risk drinking, in light of the new guidelines, at a United Kingdom level through a consensus process in partnership with the Devolved Administrations.

PHE is using its One You campaign to motivate people to take steps to improve their health through tackling the main risk factors such as smoking, inactivity, obesity, and alcohol. One You provides a Drinks Tracker app to help drinkers identify risky behaviour and lower their alcohol consumption.

Local government has been given the responsibility to improve people’s health. This includes responsibility for tackling problem drinking and commissioning appropriate prevention and treatment services for their local population’s needs. Over the next five years, we will invest more than £16 billion in local government public health services.

NHS England’s NHS Five Year Forward View commits the National Health Service to support national action on alcohol. The National Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) payments framework was set up in 2009-10 to encourage services providers to continually improve the quality of care provided to patients and to achieve transparency. To help deliver their commitment to reduce harmful alcohol consumption NHS England has published a CQUIN to incentivise interventions to reduce risky behaviours, and prevent ill health through alcohol and tobacco consumption. This has a number of components, including alcohol screening, brief advice and referral to specialist services.

Local authorities and their health and wellbeing board partners have responsibility for planning the full range of alcohol services, from early intervention and prevention, through to commissioning alcohol treatment services to meet need in their area and ensure services are accessible to everyone. Furthermore in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) public health guidance (PH 24) Alcohol-use disorders: preventing harmful drinking, Public Health England (PHE) encourages health and social care professionals to carry out Identification and Brief Advice through general practitioners and programmes such as NHS Health Checks and Making Every Contact Count. A copy of the NICE guidance is attached.

The majority of services offer interventions that are non-religious and are based on cognitive behavioural principles with motivational enhancement techniques.

There are a number of online resources to help with alcohol issues, including the One You and NHS Choices websites. One You is an integrated social marketing campaign run by PHE which aims to engage adults in making changes to improve their own health. This includes offering users advice and information about alcohol as well as tools which help monitor their drinking. NHS Choices offers a range of information about alcohol dependence and includes an on online directory of local alcohol services that those worried about their alcohol use can approach for assistance.

Local authorities and their health and wellbeing board partners have responsibility for planning the full range of alcohol services, from early intervention and prevention, through to commissioning alcohol treatment services to meet need in their area and ensure services are accessible to everyone. Furthermore in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) public health guidance (PH 24) Alcohol-use disorders: preventing harmful drinking, Public Health England (PHE) encourages health and social care professionals to carry out Identification and Brief Advice through general practitioners and programmes such as NHS Health Checks and Making Every Contact Count. A copy of the NICE guidance is attached.

The majority of services offer interventions that are non-religious and are based on cognitive behavioural principles with motivational enhancement techniques.

There are a number of online resources to help with alcohol issues, including the One You and NHS Choices websites. One You is an integrated social marketing campaign run by PHE which aims to engage adults in making changes to improve their own health. This includes offering users advice and information about alcohol as well as tools which help monitor their drinking. NHS Choices offers a range of information about alcohol dependence and includes an on online directory of local alcohol services that those worried about their alcohol use can approach for assistance.

Local authorities and their health and wellbeing board partners have responsibility for planning the full range of alcohol services, from early intervention and prevention, through to commissioning alcohol treatment services to meet need in their area and ensure services are accessible to everyone. Furthermore in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) public health guidance (PH 24) Alcohol-use disorders: preventing harmful drinking, Public Health England (PHE) encourages health and social care professionals to carry out Identification and Brief Advice through general practitioners and programmes such as NHS Health Checks and Making Every Contact Count. A copy of the NICE guidance is attached.

The majority of services offer interventions that are non-religious and are based on cognitive behavioural principles with motivational enhancement techniques.

There are a number of online resources to help with alcohol issues, including the One You and NHS Choices websites. One You is an integrated social marketing campaign run by PHE which aims to engage adults in making changes to improve their own health. This includes offering users advice and information about alcohol as well as tools which help monitor their drinking. NHS Choices offers a range of information about alcohol dependence and includes an on online directory of local alcohol services that those worried about their alcohol use can approach for assistance.

My Lords, the evidence review is currently being peer reviewed and PHE will publish it later this year.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect Public Health England to publish its independent evidence-based report on alcohol.

I am grateful to the Minister for that response and I look forward to the report. Is he aware that the latest statistics from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that hospital admissions due to alcohol-related illnesses are continuing to rise and are now more than 1 million, that the number of deaths arising from alcohol continues to go up, and that the cost to the NHS of alcohol-related problems is more than £2.5 billion? Given the difficulties that the NHS faces in funding itself at the moment, given that the economy may slow down as a result of Brexit so that less funding is available and given that we heard today about the prospect of another doctors’ strike, are the Government prepared to review the plan for the NHS to which the noble Lord so frequently refers? It may need to be changed completely, so what is plan B?

My Lords, the outside broadcast of the recent England v Wales football match showed alcohol marketing every 72 seconds. How does that help public health? Also, why do the Government permit the marketing of alcohol to reach audiences below the legal drinking age?

My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. The UK has one of the lowest weekly recommended maximum alcohol intake amounts in Europe. For example, the Spanish recommended maximum weekly alcohol intake is more than double that of the UK. Does my noble friend have a view on whether he thinks our limit is too low or that other countries have theirs set too high?

My Lords, the Chief Medical Officer famously said recently, “When I reach for a glass of wine, I think of cancer”. Does the Minister seriously think that exaggerations of that kind actually help the public perception of alcohol or mean that as a consequence our experts are completely ignored?

My Lords, back in 2011 the Scottish Government passed legislation which meant that there was no financial advantage in multibuy alcohol purchases so that each can or whatever it was would be the same price. That has discouraged the bulk buying of alcohol and as a consequence has reduced levels of harmful drinking. Have Her Majesty’s Government considered a similar law, and if not, why not?

My Lords, back in 2011 the Scottish Government passed legislation which meant that there was no financial advantage in multibuy alcohol purchases so that each can or whatever it was would be the same price. That has discouraged the bulk buying of alcohol and as a consequence has reduced levels of harmful drinking. Have Her Majesty’s Government considered a similar law, and if not, why not?

My Lords, my understanding is that junior doctors have rejected the Government’s final offer by 58% to 42%, which is quite a large majority. Will the noble Lord make a Statement tomorrow in your Lordships’ House on the consequences of this?

On the issue of the limit of 14 units of alcohol per week, I looked at the Department of Health’s website this morning and although it talks about the risks of alcohol, it does not actually specify the additional risks of, for instance, keeping the maximum units for men at 18 per week? The lay summary of the principal expert advice and research given to the Chief Medical Officer again does not quantify the risks. It states simply that there is a raised risk. Does the Minister accept that if we are not prepared to give the public the real facts, it is unlikely that the advice of the Chief Medical Officer will be taken seriously? I wonder if he can have a look at this.

My Lords, the new UK Chief Medical Officer’s advice on low-risk drinking helps people understand how they can reduce their risks from alcohol consumption. Public Health England has recently launched One You, a marketing programme providing personalised feedback on alcohol and other potentially harmful behaviours. In primary care, alcohol-risk assessments are offered to all patients registering with a new GP and 3.5 million people have had one as part of their NHS health check.