To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Policy paper entitled From harm to hope: A 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives published on 6 December 2021, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of producing an alcohol strategy.
This answer is the replacement for a previous holding answer.
Answered on
20 December 2021
No such assessment has been made. However, the commissioning and delivery of drug and alcohol treatment services is now almost entirely integrated in England. Therefore, the implementation of many aspects of the drug strategy will also benefit people seeking treatment for alcohol dependency, through mechanisms such as an improved commissioning standard, plans to increase the workforce and the treatment funding settlement. To support these improvements, the treatment system has been allocated £533 million over three years.