Drug use is unacceptable in the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence has a policy of Compulsory Drug Testing which seeks to reinforce that message. Providing a positive result, indicating the presence of illegal drugs, will almost certainly result in an administrative discharge. Positive rates in the Armed Forces over the last few years average less than 0.5%, which is significantly lower than the latest British Crime survey (2013/14) which reports one in 11 (8.8%) of adults aged 16 to 59 have taken an illegal drug in the last year.

The following tables provide information on the number of convictions in the Military Court Service in each requested year. Numbers provided for the category of ‘possession’ include convictions by a Commanding Officer at a Summary Hearing; offences relating to the supply of illegal drugs cannot be dealt with at Summary Hearing level.

Convictions for possession of drugs

Convictions for supplying illegal drugs

‘-’ Five or less. Note: Figures have been rounded to 10. There were no relevant convictions in either category among Royal Marines personnel and also no convictions for supplying illegal drugs among Navy and RAF personnel.

The provision of veterans' healthcare, including mental health and alcohol related issues, is primarily the responsibility of the National Health Service in England and the Devolved Administrations. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has not made an estimate of the number of veterans receiving such support.

The Government has made great progress with improving the services provided to meet veterans' mental health needs, including the implementation of all of the recommendations in my hon. Friend, the Member for South West Wiltshire, Dr Andrew Murrison's 'Fighting Fit' report.

These measures include: an increase in the number of mental healthcare professionals; a dedicated 24-hour helpline in partnership with Combat Stress; an on-line mental health support and advice website provided by the Big White Wall; structured mental health assessment as part of routine and discharge medicals; and the Veterans Information Service, who contact recent Service leavers to make them aware of mental health and other support available in the community. Veterans are entitled to priority access to healthcare for conditions suspected to be due to their service in the Armed Forces (subject to the clinical needs of others).

The MOD has a wide range of measures in place to discourage alcohol misuse in the Armed Forces, including education, training and treatment. Sensible, moderate consumption of alcohol can play an important part in the military culture, but the benefits must always be balanced against the hazards of misuse.

The following table contains the sum of the estimated alcohol attributable fractions for patients admitted to hospital for alcohol-specific and alcohol-related admissions for years 2008-09 to 2012-13.

The number of alcohol-related admissions is based on the methodology developed by the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO), which uses 48 indicators for alcohol-related illnesses, determining the proportion of a wide range of diseases and injuries that can be partly attributed to alcohol as well as those that are, by definition, wholly attributable to alcohol. Further information on these proportions can be found at:

http://www.nwph.net/nwpho/publications/AlcoholAttributableFractions.pdf

Alcohol attributable fractions do not provide a count of episodes with an alcohol related diagnosis or cause code but rather an estimate of the numbers. In addition, partial alcohol attributable fractions are not applicable to children aged under 16 years therefore figures for this age group relate only to wholly-attributable admissions.

Sum of alcohol attributable fractions¹ of finished admission episodes² (FAEs) for (a) alcohol specific and (b) alcohol related admissions for years 2008-09 to 2012-13³

Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Notes:

1. Alcohol–related admissions

The alcohol attributable fraction is set to 1 (100%) where the admission is considered to be entirely due to alcohol, e.g. in the case of alcoholic liver disease - these records are described as wholly alcohol attributable.

The alcohol attributable fraction is set to a value greater than 0 but less than 1 according to the NWPHO definition, e.g. the alcohol fraction of an admission with a primary diagnosis of C00 - malignant neoplasm of lip, where the patient is male and between 65 and 74 is 0.44 - these records are described as partly alcohol attributable.

These wholly and partly attributable fractions can be aggregated to supply an estimate of activity which can be considered wholly or partly attributable to alcohol.

2. Finished admission episodes

A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

3. Assessing growth through time (admitted patient care)

HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. Conversely, apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information.

Note that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity ending between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 19 January 2015, Question number 220836.

The Department for Education does not collect information on the number of pupils excluded from school for the possession and supply of illegal drugs. The Department publishes information on the number of pupils excluded permanently or for a fixed period for ‘drug and alcohol’ related reasons. Guidance to schools clarifies that this category includes exclusions for alcohol abuse, drug dealing, inappropriate use of prescribed drugs, possession of illegal drugs, smoking and substance abuse.

Information showing the number of drug and alcohol related exclusions for 2008/09 to 2012/13 has been included in the attached Excel document. Further information on permanent and fixed period exclusions can be found in the “Statistics: exclusions” series [1].

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-exclusions

The Department collects information on the number of children looked after by local authorities in England via the SSDA903 return. However data on the number of children looked after who have parents who misuse alcohol or drugs is not collected.

Figures are provided in the table below for assessments of children in need:

Number of assessments of children referred to social care where alcohol or drug misuse by the parent or carer was identified as a factor, year ending 31 March 2014

Source: Children in Need census

1. This data was reported for the first time in 2013/14 for initial and continuous assessments completed in the year. A child may have more than one assessment in the year and an assessment may have more than one factor recorded.

2. An initial assessment is a brief assessment and a continuous assessment is a more in depth assessment of a child’s needs where the child has been referred to children’s social care services with a request that services be provided.

This was the first year this data item was collected. Data was provided by around two thirds of local authorities so this information should be treated with caution.

Factor information is published within table A6 of the ‘Characteristics of children in need: 2013 to 2014’ statistical first release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2013-to-2014

The Department is committed to helping people live well for longer. The Responsibility Deal pledge to remove one billion units of alcohol from the market by the end of 2015 (a reduction of around 2%) has a role to play in supporting improvements in reducing alcohol-related harms. In the first year of this four year pledge, 253 million units of alcohol were taken out of the market. A copy of the report showing this analysis has already been placed in the Library.

Because much alcohol-attributable harm occurs in middle or older age groups as a result of years of drinking above the lower-risk guidelines, even a relatively small reduction is likely to have a significant impact upon long-term and chronic illnesses.

Improving consumer awareness can help people make informed choices about when and how much they drink. For advice on alcohol consumption to be meaningful, people need to be able to put it into the context of their own drinking habits. To increase awareness and understanding of alcohol units, the lower-risk drinking guidelines and the Chief Medical Officer’s advice on drinking during pregnancy, 92 companies committed to displaying this information on 80% of bottles and cans by the end of 2013.

An independent market survey has been carried out which we expect to be published shortly. Subject to publication of the final report:

- On a market share based on the total numbers of bottles and cans (ie a distinct item), 79.3% of bottles and cans have this information.

- On a market share based on alcohol by volume, 69.9% of bottles and cans have this information.

In addition to unit and health information on bottles and cans, pub chains and retailers committed to providing unit and health information. This year, Ipsos Mori carried out an independent survey of whether the public saw such information. 27% of the public said they saw a British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) or Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA) unit awareness image; 41% of 18-24 year-olds recalled seeing at least one image; 27% saw something similar and 52% of those also saw BBPA or WSTA materials.

Information is not available in the format requested.

Current government recommendations are that adult men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol a day and adult women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day.

The Office of National Statistics class heavy drinkers as those that drink more than six units in a day for women and more than eight units in a day for men (double the current lower risk guidelines) and this definition is often used as a proxy for “binge drinking”.

Information is available for the percentage of men who drank more than eight units and women who drank more than six units on at least one day in the last week prior to the interview for the General Lifestyle Survey and the General Household Survey (The Office of National Statistics).

Source: The Office of National Statistics (General Lifestyle Survey and the General Household Survey)

The information requested is not collected centrally.

I agree with the thrust of my hon. Friend’s question and I agree that many of the chemical highs or new psychoactive substances—the so-called legal highs, although I prefer not to use the word “legal” because that implies that they are both legal and safe and some are neither—can be more dangerous than other drugs that people recognise as dangerous. There has been a decline in drug use among young people, but he is right to draw attention to that aspect. I established an expert panel on it late last year and I look forward to receiving its recommendations shortly.

Drug use in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level since records began, in 1996. The number of heroin and crack cocaine users in England has fallen below 300,000 for the first time since 2004-05. Drug-related deaths in England and Wales have continued to fall over the last three years. Numbers successfully completing drug treatment free of dependency in England have risen since 2009-10.

I am happy to say that we have already banned more than 250 new substances. We will continue to introduce bans and to use temporary control orders. I have asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to review the generic definitions that are used to ban families of drugs to get even speedier action.

The coalition Government has banned hundreds of new psychoactive substances. We work closely with law enforcement partners to tackle this reckless trade. Concerted action, which started in November, has resulted in 44 arrests and seizures of new psychoactive substances, including 9 kg seized by Kent police. I am leading a review to look at how the UK’s response to such new drugs can be further strengthened.

[holding answer 16 December 2013]: The National Crime Agency works with Border Force and other law enforcement agencies to detect illicit goods, including substances controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and to prosecute those responsible for the importation or distribution of these controlled substances in the UK. The specific controls put in place are a matter for law enforcement, and in any case it would not be sensible to itemise these.

In addition the Home Office recently worked with UK law enforcement on a concerted programme of enforcement activity on new psychoactive substances, many of which are controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act. This activity included enhanced resources for detecting illicit goods such as controlled drugs. The Home Office Centre for Applied Science and Technology supported this activity with real-time forensic analysis of suspect seizures.

The following table contains the sum of the estimated alcohol-related admissions, using attributable fractions for 0 to 12-year-olds and 0 to 17-year-olds residents in England.

It should be noted that these figures are not a count of people and represent an estimated number of admissions that were attributable to alcohol.

Alcohol attributable fractions (AAFs) are based on the proportion of a given diagnosis or injury that is estimated to be attributed to alcohol. Some diagnoses or injuries will, by definition, be wholly attributable to alcohol and have an AAF of one, others will only be partly attributable to alcohol and have an AAF greater than zero, but less than one. Diagnoses or injuries that are not attributable at all to alcohol will have an AAF of zero.

These figures are derived by summing all AAFs for the relevant admissions and should therefore only be interpreted as an estimate of the number of admissions that can be attributed to alcohol.

It should also be noted that attributable fractions are not available for children under 16. Therefore figures for this age group relate only to wholly-attributable admissions, where the attributable fraction is one.

The sum of AAF¹ for admission episodes for (a) 0 to 12-year-olds and (b) 0 to 17-year-olds where (i) the AAF for the episode is one (wholly attributable to alcohol) and (ii) the AAF for the episode is less than one (partially attributable to alcohol) for the years 2008-09 to 2012-13².

It is not possible to identify 'detoxified at birth' using the ICD-10 classification¹ Instead we have provided a count of finished admission birth episodes where there was a primary or secondary diagnosis of neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs of addiction.

ICD-10 code used: P96.1 Neonatal withdrawal symptoms form maternal use of drugs of addiction.

We do not currently have national numbers on the proportion of families affected by these issues, but as part of the independent national evaluation of the programme we are collecting data on drug and alcohol misuse, drawing on locally held information as well as interviews with families themselves.

The following table contains the sum of the estimated alcohol-related admissions to hospital once, twice, three times and four times or more with a condition wholly attributable to alcohol for 2009-10 to 2012-13.

The information is not available in the format requested for 2008-09.

It is not possible to estimate how many people were admitted to hospital once, twice, three times and four times or more with alcohol-related conditions that are not wholly attributable to alcohol. Estimates of the number of admissions involving conditions that are not wholly attributable to alcohol are made by applying information from research about the percentage of instances of that condition that can be attributed to alcohol.

However, it is not possible to infer reliably from the information available centrally how many instances of patients who have been admitted to hospital a number of times with such conditions, were alcohol-related.

The most recent estimate for the number of children living with parents who are in drug treatment was published by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse in 2012. Their report on parental drug misuse ‘Parents with drug problems: how treatment helps families’ estimated that there were 104,000 children living with parents who were in drug treatment during 2011-12.

A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.

The Information has been placed in the Library. The table shows the numbers of people receiving a prescribing intervention for their opioid dependency for the time periods requested.