To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the estimated cost to the police of alcohol-related incidents and offences in the last year for which figures are available. [11372]

[holding answer 29 July 1997]: This information is not collected centrally. The cost to the police of responding to incidents and dealing with offences is a matter for individual chief constables.Senior police officers have expressed concern about the level of drink-related incidents and the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley, North and Sefton, East (Mr. Howarth) has recently announced that we will be bringing in a range of measures to tackle the particular problem of young people and alcohol, including a new offence of buying alcohol for unsupervised under 18-year-olds and clarification of the position on test purchases. The Government will also implement on 1 August the Confiscation of Alcohol Act 1997 which will give the police a discretionary power to confiscate alcohol, or what appears to be alcohol, from under-age drinkers in any public place, or any other place to which the young person had unlawfully gained access.