Written question asked by Lord Lansley (Conservative) on Tuesday, 4 December 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 6 December 2007. It was answered by Baroness Primarolo (Labour) on Thursday, 13 December 2007 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) start and (b) end date is of each activity he has planned for next year to tackle excessive alcohol consumption; and what the expected cost is of each activity in each year for which expenditure is planned.

Answer: The start and end dates of planned activity to tackle excessive alcohol consumption next year are listed and described in detail with timescales in Annex B in The Government's renewed alcohol strategy, ““Safe. Sensible. Social””, published in June 2007. A copy is available in the Library.The planned new actions and next steps involve a number of Government Departments as well as the national health service locally, and it is therefore not possible to fully set out expected costs.The Department is spending £1.7 million in 2006-07 on the 'Know your Limits' campaign, which is a joint campaign with the Home Office who are contributing additional funding. In the case of the NHS, primary care trusts are responsible for delivering improvements to patient care, so spending on activity outlined in the strategy will be based on local decisions. We would also expect there to be scope for off-setting efficiency savings, for example from reduced hospital admissions.

Secondary information