Written question asked by Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour) on Monday, 30 January 2006.

Alcohol

Question: Whether the four reasons for measuring the costs of alcohol misuse given in the introduction to the Cabinet Office paper of September 2003, Alcohol misuse: How much does it cost? still apply; and when, having solved the methodological challenge of estimating these costs, they will undertake a further study to enable policy-makers to assess the trends since 2001 and 2002, the years to which most of the statistics in the paper relate.

Answer: The reasons for estimating costs of alcohol misuse, as set out in the Strategy Unit’s background analysis paper Alcohol misuse: How much does it cost? (September 2003) are generic so will still apply. This was background analysis for the Strategy Unit project on alcohol-related harm which has now ended. The unit has no current plans to undertake further work in this area. The strategy on reducing alcohol harm is being taken forward jointly by the Department of Health and the Home Office.

Secondary information