The need for an adjournment debate on the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy review

Background

In March 2004, following a concerted campaign by public health organisations, the Government published England’s first ever Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy. The strategy outlined sites for joint action by key central departments, local authorities and NHS primary Care trusts under a series of broad headings. These were: better education and communication; improving health and treatment services; combating alcohol-related crime and disorder; and working with the alcohol industry.

The sheer breadth of the strategy’s reach spoke to the fact that alcohol misuse has implications for a variety of public policy spheres. Prior to the strategy’s publication, a specially commissioned Cabinet Office study underlined how varied the costs of alcohol misuse tend to be (1). The Interim Analytical Report found (among other things) that alcohol misuse costs the economy £6.4 billion in lost productivity (including 17million sick days annually), that it causes 22,000 premature deaths each year, that roughly 40% of victims of violent crime believe their attackers to have been under the influence, and that 150,000 people enter hospital each year due to alcohol, at a (conservatively estimated) cost to the NHS of £1.7 billion.

The Government also promised a review of the strategy in 2007 during which it would ‘take stock’ against ‘clearly identified indicators’ (2). We have been informed that the Department of Health and the Home Office have now embarked on this review process. There are no primary legislative components to the strategy (though the original strategy squarely identified tackling alcohol-related disorder as its main priority, the 2003 Licensing Act falls outside it), but given the impact alcohol misuse has on public health, crime and disorder, and social outcomes for young people, Alcohol Concern and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust considers it vital that there be an opportunity for MPs to discuss the future of harm reduction in parliament.

1) Cabinet Office Strategy Unit Alcohol Harm Reduction Project (2003), Interim analytical report, Cabinet Office, London
2) Cabinet Office (2004), Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England, Cabinet Office, London

Parliament and the Strategy

This parliamentary session has been notable for the number of questions put to Government both by the Commons and the Lords on alcohol-related issues. Parliamentary questions have been invaluable in unearthing startling new facts, including for example the fact that cases of cirrhosis of the liver have virtually trebled over the past ten years (3). Other questions have focussed on the level of underage drinking, regulation of alcohol advertising and links between price and morbidity. The ostensible scope of the strategy means there are many important possible ways to frame a debate. Appendix A summarises the main tenets of the Strategy. Members interested in helping a secure a debate are welcome to approach either Alcohol

Concern or Suzy Lamplugh Trust for research assistance on those topics of particular interest to them.

3) Caroline Flint (2007) ‘Ministerial Answer on the 13th of March 2007 to Parliamentary Question 124017 put by Sandra Gidley MP’, Hansard, London

Timing and tactics

If we are to attain the ideal situation whereby we gain the support at least three or four MPs willing to give way to one another in order to generate a dynamic discussion, then it is likely that the earliest we could try to secure a debate would be late April/Early May. Nonetheless, the unpredictability of the ballot suggests that those members interested in securing a debate should begin entering the ballot each week from now. Both Alcohol Concern and Suzy Lamplugh Trust have good relationships with a series of MPs interested in alcohol-related issues who might be willing to contribute to the debate regardless of the sponsoring member. In light of the national significance of the issue and the rare chance to discuss Government’s harm reduction policy it might also be worth writing to Mr. Speaker requesting a Thursday debate.

Contact Information and Resources

If you require assistance with any aspect of alcohol-related research gathering or would like to discuss the reasons for securing a debate further please don’t hesitate to contact the Parliamentary Officers at either Alcohol Concern or the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. We’re happy to do as much as we can to help enable an informed debate.

Frank Soodeen
Press and Parliamentary Officer
Alcohol Concern
0207 395 4003
franks@alcoholconcern.org.uk

Daniel Riley
Press and Policy Officer
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust
0207 091 0014
daniel.riley@suzylamplugh.org

Resources

Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy (2004)

Interim Analytical Report (2003)

Alcohol Needs Assessment Research Project (2005)

Alcohol Strategy-The Way Forward. A report by Alcohol Concern (2007)

Appendix A

The Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy 2003-2007

In March 2004 the Government published the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England (AHRSE), following a Cabinet Office investigation that revealed the scale of alcohol-related harm in the UK. The strategy outlined sites for joint action by key central departments and local authorities under a series of headings.

Better education and communication

Making the ‘sensible drinking message’ easier to understand apply;

Targeting messages at those most at risk, including binge and chronic drinkers;

Providing better information for consumers, both on products and at the point of sale;

Providing alcohol education in schools that can change attitudes and behaviour;

Providing more support and advice for employers; and

Reviewing the code of practice for TV advertising to ensure that it does not target young drinkers or glamorise behaviour.

Improving health and treatment services

Improved training of staff to increase awareness of likely signs of alcohol misuse;

Piloting schemes to find out whether earlier identification and treatment of those with alcohol problems can improve health and lead to longer-term savings;

Carrying out a national audit of the demand for and provision of alcohol treatment services, to identify any gaps between demand and provision; and

Better help for the most vulnerable-such as homeless people, drug addicts, the mentally ill, and young people.

Combating alcohol-related crime and disorder

Greater use of exclusion orders to ban those causing trouble from pubs and clubs or entire town centres;

Greater use of fixed penalty fines for anti-social behaviour; and

Working with licensees to ensure better enforcement of existing rules on under-age drinking and serving people who are already drunk.

Working with the alcohol industry

At national level, a (voluntary) social responsibility charter for drinks producers was meant to strongly encourage drinks companies to:

Pledge not to manufacture products irresponsibly-for example, no products that appeal to under-age drinkers or that encourage people to drink well over recommended limits’.

Ensure that advertising does not promote or condone irresponsible or excessive drinking;

Put the sensible drinking message clearly on bottles alongside information about unit content;

Move to packaging products in safer materials-for examples, alternatives to glass bottles; and

Make a financial contribution to a fund that pays for new schemes to address alcohol misuse at national and local levels such as providing information and alternative facilities for young people.