To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to reduce the number of people being treated in hospital for alcohol-related conditions.

My Lords, the level of alcohol-related hospital admissions, and indeed crime and deaths related to alcohol, is of course unacceptable. In the Department of Health we are determined to try our best to turn this round but there is no one simple solution. The Government’s response includes the alcohol improvement programme, which supports the NHS in reducing hospital admissions—two-thirds of PCTs have already chosen this as a priority—the Alcohol Effects campaign, helping people to understand how much they drink and what the health risks are; and a new mandatory code introduced by my right honourable friend the Home Secretary, which tackles the worst promotions.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. Arising from it, can she think of any particular reason why the annual number of hospital admissions involving people with an alcohol-related disorder, from injuries sustained while drunk to liver disease, has risen by no less than 69 per cent in the few years since the hotly contested passage of the Licensing Act 2003?

My Lords, statistics published over the weekend suggest—very puzzlingly, I think, given the concern on this matter—that drinking levels have not changed much since 1992. Those statistics from the Office for National Statistics raise some interesting questions. However, the noble Lord makes a very important point. We do not accept that the changes in the licensing laws have led to this situation but there is no doubt that 9 million adults regularly drink more than the NHS advises and long-term are placing their health at risk, and that 2 million adults regularly drink double the amount that we suggest is safe. Therefore, it is very important that we concentrate on a number of things, one of which is informing people about the risks that they face by abusing alcohol in this way. We make sure, for example, that doctors and hospitals now take account of the many people who come to them with alcohol-related issues. However, there are many different ways in which this matter needs to be tackled.

My Lords, is the noble Baroness aware of the alarming statistics produced by Professor Christopher Day and Dr Christopher Record of Newcastle University, which clearly demonstrate a very serious and substantial continuing increase in the incidence of alcohol-induced liver disease in young people in Tyneside? That increase is clearly related to promotions for cheap alcohol in the pubs and clubs of that area. Is it not time that the Government reviewed and reconsidered their decision not to impose a minimum charge per unit of alcohol?

We are looking at that as one of the solutions; there is no question but that we have to look at all the solutions. However, although there are pockets of the country where this is a very serious problem, the fact is that fewer young people are drinking now than were drinking a few years ago. The problem is that those who are drinking are drinking more. The Chief Medical Officer’s first-ever guidance on drinking for young people and their parents says that it is healthiest for children under 15 to avoid alcohol. The Government need parents—and all of us—to take responsibility not to give their children alcohol in an inappropriate way, for example. That is why in January 2010 we launched a new social marketing foundation aimed at young people, and this is having an impact. There are many different ways in which we need to tackle this.

My Lords, what can be done to reduce what seems to be binge drinking by young people? It is a rather distressing phenomenon which I think is a relatively recent development.

Binge drinking, unfortunately, is not limited to young people, but it is absolutely true that it can make our town centres deeply intimidating and unpleasant places. Law enforcement officers—the police, trading standards and licensing authorities—have the power to do a great deal more about this. We have given them those powers and we urge them to use them to stop the anti-social behaviour which arises from excessive consumption of alcohol by young people in their town centres.

My Lords, we on these Benches support moves to try to deal, so far as possible, with alcohol-related problems outside of hospital. There are, however, challenges: challenges not only in detoxification, of course, but in trying to prevent incidents of self-harm and suicide outside of hospital. We know that alcohol and drug addiction is closely related to the increase in self-harm and suicide. Why, therefore, do the two most recent government directives on drugs and alcohol make no reference to self-harm and suicide, and why does the National Treatment Agency’s main report on risk also makes no mention of self-harm and suicide? I declare an interest as the chairman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ commission on self-harm and suicide.

I do not know why they do not refer to those issues. What I can say is that the treatment of alcohol misuse has been given inadequate attention for very many years, as I am sure the noble Lord and I would agree. Over the past few years we have provided resources, such as £2.7 million in new funding for regional alcohol managers, which I think means alcohol improvement programmes, and £8 million in funding for the early identification of new patients who are regularly drinking, for example. Moreover, as I said in my earlier Answer, two-thirds of PCTs are now working out ways of identifying people and getting them into treatment programmes more quickly than they were in the past.

My Lords, if it is correct that the Government have put so much money into treatment—as they claim that they have, and as the figures reveal that they have—can the Minister tell us why so many rehabilitation beds are currently empty and, at the same time, the waiting list is so long?

I undertake to find out why that might be the case—I am very surprised to hear it. We are very keen that rehabilitation beds should be used, and used to the maximum. As the noble Lord will know, the more people we get into rehabilitation, the better our chances of combating this awful scourge.

My Lords, can the Minister give us any information on those with a double addiction to drugs and alcohol and, in particular, whether any assessment has been made of the effect that this is having on families, especially families with young children, and the somewhat chaotic circumstances in which they live?

My brief does not contain information about the effect on families of a double addiction to alcohol and drugs. However, I think that good sense tells us that that is indeed an appalling situation. The systems in place to deal with addiction and with alcohol and drug misuse need to be brought to bear in those families even more than in others.