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Benefits

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people in receipt of disability living allowance (DLA) have, as one of their primary or secondary disabling health conditions limiting work ability, alcohol abuse or chronic alcoholism; how many, and what percentage, of those in that category came off DLA into work in...

Asked by

Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

19 March 2013

Reference

744 c130WA; HL6155

House

House of Lords

Benefits

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 3 October (WA 112), given that the review of the effectiveness of treatment for alcohol problems by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse indicated that almost 75 per cent of those alcoholic clients who participated...

Asked by

Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

17 October 2011

Reference

12301; 731 c7WA

House

House of Lords

Health: Alcoholism

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an assessment has been made of the likelihood of rehabilitation of chronic alcoholics; whether research is planned to establish whether benefits above the basic level paid to them in respect of concomitant disabilities are currently spent on alcohol; and whether a review of general...

Asked by

Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Answered on

3 October 2011

The term ““chronic alcoholics”” is not one that is used by the department, although we recognise that there are varying levels of alcohol dependence. The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007 indicated that in 2006-07 there were around 1.6 million adults showing symptoms of moderate or severe alcohol dependence. Of those, 111,381 people are estimated to have received treatment as indicated in the National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System Annual Report 2009-10. This shows that 7 per cent of adults showing signs of dependence accessed treatment in that year. This compares to international models of good practice that suggest between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of the dependent population should be able to access treatment in any one year. The Review of the Effectiveness of Treatment for Alcohol Problems, published by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse on November 2006, indicated that over 25 per cent of clients who participated in the United Kingdom Alcohol Treatment Trials, one of the largest treatment trials conducted in the UK, showed a successful outcome with no alcohol-related problems at follow-up. All the treatments studied produced significant improvements in alcohol consumption, alcohol dependence, alcohol-related problems and aspects of general functioning. It is highly unlikely that in most cases such changes would have occurred as a result of natural recovery processes. While a person's dependence may have led to unemployment or may have caused or exacerbated a medical condition, benefit payments are never made, or paid at an increased rate, solely because a person is dependent on drugs or alcohol. Where additional disability benefits are paid, this is in recognition of the fact that there are often additional costs associated with disability such as transport or care costs. The Government do not monitor what individuals spend their benefits on. The Government are reviewing the general policy towards the prevention and treatment of alcohol misuse in this country, and we will publish the Government's alcohol strategy towards the end of this year.

Notes

Answer received between Thursday 15 September and Monday 26 September 2011.

Date

3 October 2011

Reference

11715; 730 c112WA

House

House of Lords

Benefits

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 12 May (WA 229–31), what percentage of drug addicts and alcoholics they estimate will be reformed and what percentage will never be employable; what assessment they have made of the effect of paying drug addicts and...

Asked by

Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

24 May 2011

Reference

9318; 727 c400WA

House

House of Lords

Benefits

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (a) alcoholics, and (b) drug addicts, are in receipt of (1) disability living allowance, and (2) incapacity benefit.

Asked by

Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Answered on

12 May 2011

This Government recognise that too many people are on benefits as a result of drug and alcohol addiction, often for many years having been failed by the system. As a consequence, they are determined to take tough action to address this issue. People in receipt of benefits as a result of a drug or alcohol dependency will be expected to work where they can, while those unable to work will be offered every support to overcome their dependency. The Government are currently in the process of reassessing all incapacity benefit claims in order to identify claimants who have the potential to return to work and offer them the necessary support to do so. The department does not routinely record the information requested in this parliamentary Question on its systems. It did however commission a one-off research report in 2008 to look at precisely this issue in respect of opiate or crack cocaine dependency, and a similar research report in 2010 in respect of alcohol dependency. These reports are publicly available on the Department for Work and Pensions website, and the relevant figures have been reproduced in table 1 below. It should be noted that drug dependency does not of itself confer entitlement to disability benefits. In the case of incapacity benefit and employment support allowance, this is determined by a person's capability or capacity for employment. For disability living allowance entitlement relies on the care and/or mobility needs arising from a particular condition. Where individuals with a substance dependency are in receipt of such benefits it will be because they have other diagnoses, for example mental illness. The department does routinely record the numbers of people in receipt of disability benefits who record drug abuse or alcoholism as their main disabling condition. This information is presented in table 2. These figures represent a subset of all claimants with a drug or alcohol dependency, as not all such claimants will have declared this as their main condition.

Table 1: Estimated number of working age claimants who are opiate (eg heroin) or crack cocaine users or dependent drinkers by benefit type in England
Benefit	Number of opiate or crack cocaine users in 2006	Number of dependent drinkers in 2008
Incapacity Benefit	87,000	99,200
Disability Living Allowance	25,000	29,400

"Source: ““Population estimates of problematic drug users in England who access Department for Work and Pensions benefits: A feasibility study, Working Paper No. 46, Hay, G. & Bauld, L. 2008”” and Population estimates of alcohol misusers who access DWP benefits, Working Paper No. 94, Hay, G. Bauld, L. 2010””""Notes:""1. The estimates predate the introduction of ESA.""2. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.""3. Dependent drinkers are defined as those with an AUDIT score of 20+. The alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) is a clinical assessment tool designed to identify people who may be dependent drinkers. A diagnosis of dependence is made by a clinician following further tests. Dependent drinkers with an AUDIT score of 20+ are very likely to be experiencing physical and social problems (including, possibly, problems maintaining employment) due to their excessive alcohol consumption or storing up such problems for themselves in the future.""4. Copies of the working papers by Hay and Bauld can be found in the House of Commons Library, and can also be accessed at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/WP46.pdf and http://research. dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/WP94.pdf ." "Notes:""1. The estimates predate the introduction of ESA.""2. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.""3. Dependent drinkers are defined as those with an AUDIT score of 20+. The alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) is a clinical assessment tool designed to identify people who may be dependent drinkers. A diagnosis of dependence is made by a clinician following further tests. Dependent drinkers with an AUDIT score of 20+ are very likely to be experiencing physical and social problems (including, possibly, problems maintaining employment) due to their excessive alcohol consumption or storing up such problems for themselves in the future.""4. Copies of the working papers by Hay and Bauld can be found in the House of Commons Library, and can also be accessed at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/WP46.pdf and http://research. dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/WP94.pdf ." "1. The estimates predate the introduction of ESA.""2. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.""3. Dependent drinkers are defined as those with an AUDIT score of 20+. The alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) is a clinical assessment tool designed to identify people who may be dependent drinkers. A diagnosis of dependence is made by a clinician following further tests. Dependent drinkers with an AUDIT score of 20+ are very likely to be experiencing physical and social problems (including, possibly, problems maintaining employment) due to their excessive alcohol consumption or storing up such problems for themselves in the future.""4. Copies of the working papers by Hay and Bauld can be found in the House of Commons Library, and can also be accessed at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/WP46.pdf and http://research. dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/WP94.pdf ." "2. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.""3. Dependent drinkers are defined as those with an AUDIT score of 20+. The alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) is a clinical assessment tool designed to identify people who may be dependent drinkers. A diagnosis of dependence is made by a clinician following further tests. Dependent drinkers with an AUDIT score of 20+ are very likely to be experiencing physical and social problems (including, possibly, problems maintaining employment) due to their excessive alcohol consumption or storing up such problems for themselves in the future.""4. Copies of the working papers by Hay and Bauld can be found in the House of Commons Library, and can also be accessed at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/WP46.pdf and http://research. dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/WP94.pdf ." "3. Dependent drinkers are defined as those with an AUDIT score of 20+. The alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) is a clinical assessment tool designed to identify people who may be dependent drinkers. A diagnosis of dependence is made by a clinician following further tests. Dependent drinkers with an AUDIT score of 20+ are very likely to be experiencing physical and social problems (including, possibly, problems maintaining employment) due to their excessive alcohol consumption or storing up such problems for themselves in the future.""4. Copies of the working papers by Hay and Bauld can be found in the House of Commons Library, and can also be accessed at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/WP46.pdf and http://research. dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/WP94.pdf ." "4. Copies of the working papers by Hay and Bauld can be found in the House of Commons Library, and can also be accessed at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/WP46.pdf and http://research. dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/WP94.pdf ."

Table 2. Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance (IB/SDA), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Employment Support Allowance (ESA) recipients with Alcoholism and Drug Abuse recorded as the main condition—August 2010
Benefit	Total number with Alcoholism and Drug Abuse	Number with Alcoholism	Number with Drug Abuse
DLA	23,000	n/a	n/a
IB/SDA	n/a	42,360	37,480
ESA	n/a	14,700	9,870

"Source: DWP Information Directorate 5 per cent sample and DWP Information Directorate 100 per cent WPLS.""Notes:""1. DLA figures are rounded to the nearest 100, and have been uprated to be consistent with Work and Pensions Longitudinal Survey (WPLS) data. IB/SDA & ESA figures to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding.""2. DLA caseloads give the number of people entitled to DLA and so include people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. Disability living allowance can be claimed by people who are both in and out of work.""3. For DLA it is not possible to breakdown drug abuse or alcoholism into separate categories.""4. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment support allowance (ESA) from October 2008.""5. ““n/a”” denotes not applicable." "Notes:""1. DLA figures are rounded to the nearest 100, and have been uprated to be consistent with Work and Pensions Longitudinal Survey (WPLS) data. IB/SDA & ESA figures to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding.""2. DLA caseloads give the number of people entitled to DLA and so include people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. Disability living allowance can be claimed by people who are both in and out of work.""3. For DLA it is not possible to breakdown drug abuse or alcoholism into separate categories.""4. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment support allowance (ESA) from October 2008.""5. ““n/a”” denotes not applicable." "1. DLA figures are rounded to the nearest 100, and have been uprated to be consistent with Work and Pensions Longitudinal Survey (WPLS) data. IB/SDA & ESA figures to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding.""2. DLA caseloads give the number of people entitled to DLA and so include people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. Disability living allowance can be claimed by people who are both in and out of work.""3. For DLA it is not possible to breakdown drug abuse or alcoholism into separate categories.""4. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment support allowance (ESA) from October 2008.""5. ““n/a”” denotes not applicable." "2. DLA caseloads give the number of people entitled to DLA and so include people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. Disability living allowance can be claimed by people who are both in and out of work.""3. For DLA it is not possible to breakdown drug abuse or alcoholism into separate categories.""4. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment support allowance (ESA) from October 2008.""5. ““n/a”” denotes not applicable." "3. For DLA it is not possible to breakdown drug abuse or alcoholism into separate categories.""4. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment support allowance (ESA) from October 2008.""5. ““n/a”” denotes not applicable." "4. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment support allowance (ESA) from October 2008.""5. ““n/a”” denotes not applicable." "5. ““n/a”” denotes not applicable."

Date

12 May 2011

Reference

8892; 727 c229-31WA

House

House of Lords

Benefits

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 28 July (WA 359), whether they will commission research on the effects of problem drug and alcohol users having access to high levels of disability-related benefits; and whether they will review whether such claimants should be...

Asked by

Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

1 November 2010

Reference

2822; 721 c345WA

House

House of Lords

Benefits

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the level of benefits available for single persons dependent on drugs or alcohol.

Asked by

Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Answered on

28 July 2010

The Government are determined to reform the welfare system to support employment and earnings and to tackle welfare dependency. A reformed system will make it easier to ensure that drug and alcohol users receive the help and support they need to overcome their dependency and get back to work. Drug and alcohol addiction is one of the most damaging root causes of poverty. Helping people who are trapped on benefits through drug and alcohol addiction so that they can recover and find employment is a top priority for the Government. It is estimated that 80 per cent of problem drug users—those using heroin or crack cocaine—are on working-age benefits, including jobseeker’s allowance and disability-related benefits, often for many years¹. Receipt of disability-related benefits is not dependent on the basis of a diagnosis or condition, but rather the effect that the diagnosis or condition has upon a person. For instance entitlement to disability living allowance is not dependent on a diagnosis or condition but relies instead on the care and/or mobility needs arising. Drug or alcohol dependency does not of itself confer entitlement to incapacity benefits. To qualify for incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance, claimants have to undertake a medical assessment of incapacity for work which is called the personal capability assessment. This assesses the effects of a person’s condition on their ability to carry out a number of everyday activities relevant to work. People with a recorded diagnosis of alcohol or drug dependency may have other diagnoses, for example mental illness, which result in their incapacity for work. For those customers who are claiming the employment and support allowance, this is not paid on the basis of a specific medical condition. It is paid at different rates depending on an individual’s circumstances and where they are in the claim process. Claimants undergo a work capability assessment to ascertain their capacity for work. "¹ Population estimates of problematic drug users in England who access Department for Work and Pensions benefits: A feasibility study, Working Paper No.46, Hay, G. & Bauld, L. 2008."

Date

28 July 2010

Reference

1715; 720 c358-9WA

House

House of Lords

Benefits

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 29 June (WA 243), whether they will commission research on the health and ethical issues involved in providing single persons dependent on drugs or alcohol with benefits above a basic income support level.

Asked by

Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

20 July 2010

Reference

1054; 720 c186-7WA

House

House of Lords

Benefits

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will change the criteria for housing single people dependant on alcohol or drugs so that they are paid no more non-housing benefits than the appropriate income support level without premiums.

Asked by

Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

29 June 2010

Reference

697; 719 c243WA

House

House of Lords

Alcohol

To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they have to charge those who require National Health Service treatment due to the regular consumption of alcohol.

Asked by

Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

14 January 2010

Reference

951; 716 c167WA

House

House of Lords

Alcohol

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will research the health and financial consequences of awarding benefits to those with long-term excess alcohol consumption.

Asked by

Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

12 November 2009

Reference

5935; 714 c182WA

House

House of Lords

Drugs: Cocaine

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the trend of illegal use of cocaine in the United Kingdom over the past few years.

Asked by

Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Answered on

19 October 2009

The Home Office is only responsible for the assessment of illegal use of cocaine in England and Wales; the Governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland are responsible for their own illicit drug use figures using the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey and Northern Ireland Crime Survey/Drug Prevalence Survey in Northern Ireland respectively. Within England and Wales, the British Crime Survey (BCS) is used to provide information on the prevalence and trends of illicit drug use among 16 to 59 year-olds. Figures in the attached table show prevalence of cocaine use (including crack cocaine and cocaine powder) between the 2001-02 and 2008-09 BCS. These figures show that there has been a statistically significant increase in cocaine use among 16 to 59 year- olds in this period (from 2 per cent to 3 per cent).

Proportion of 16 to 59 year-olds reporting use of drugs in the last year, 2001-02 to 2008-09 BCS
Percentages									BCS
	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2007-08 to 2008-09
									Statistically significant change ¹
Any cocaine	2.0	2.1	2.5	2.0	2.4	2.6	2.4	3.0	^
Cocaine powder	2.0	2.1	2.4	2.0	2.4	2.6	2.4	3.0	^
Crack cocaine	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.1
Unweighted base ²	19,973	23,357	24,197	28,206	29,631.	28,819	28,331	28,232

"1. A statistically significant increase at the 5 per cent. level is denoted by "^" while a statistically significant decrease at the 5 per cent. level is denoted by "v".""2. Base numbers relate to any drug use. Bases for other drug measures will be similar." "2. Base numbers relate to any drug use. Bases for other drug measures will be similar."

Date

19 October 2009

Reference

4942; 713 c35-6WA

House

House of Lords

Benefits: Disability Living Allowance

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord McKenzie of Luton on 26 November 2008 (WA 296), whether they will consider non-housing benefits for single people currently dependent on alcohol or drugs if there is medical evidence that it would be in the interest of their...

Asked by

Lord Laird (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

23 February 2009

Reference

1220; 708 c8-9WA

House

House of Lords

Alcohol

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord McKenzie of Luton on 12 November (WA 130–31), whether they are conducting research into the health consequences of awarding benefits to those with long-term excess alcohol consumption.

Asked by

Lord Laird (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

15 December 2008

Reference

50; 706 c15WA

House

House of Lords

Benefits: Disability Living Allowance

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord McKenzie of Luton on 12 November (WA 130-31), what is the maximum annual payment that can be made to a disability living allowance recipient; what information they collate on the types of illness suffered by disability living allowance recipients; and...

Asked by

Lord Laird (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

26 November 2008

Reference

705 c296WA; 6436

House

House of Lords

Alcohol

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord McKenzie of Luton on 12 November (WA 130–31), whether they conduct any research on the health consequences of awarding benefits to those experiencing long-term excess alcohol consumption.

Asked by

Lord Laird (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

24 November 2008

Reference

705 c229WA; 6437

House

House of Lords

Benefits: Disability Living Allowance

How many people who receive disability living allowance for alcoholism are in receipt of higher income support, pension credit, housing benefit, or council tax benefit; and what the annual cost of such credits or benefits is in Northern Ireland.

Asked by

Lord Laird (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

12 November 2008

Reference

705 c130-1WA; 5884

House

House of Lords

Benefits: Disability Living Allowance

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many people are in receipt of disability living allowance for alcoholism; how many are in receipt of both components of the allowance; how many receive the care component only; how many receive the mobility component only; how much in total is received annually by such claimants;...

Asked by

Lord Laird (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

12 November 2008

Reference

705 c130-1WA; 5883

House

House of Lords

Addiction

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which body provides government funding in Northern Ireland to groups offering help and support to those with addictions; and how much has been paid to these groups in each of the past five years.

Asked by

Lord Laird (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Answered on

5 February 2007

The Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety through the alcohol and drug strategies, and its funding for core health board addiction services, provides funding to a range of organisations and groups offering help and support to those with addictions. Additional funding is provided by the NIO Community Safety Unit (NIO) and the Housing Executive for Northern Ireland (NIHE). The figures for these three funding bodies are as follows.

Alcohol and Drug Strategies
2002-03	£4,167,214
2003-04	£4,271,394
2004-05	£5,383,056
2005-06	£5,517,633
2006-07	£6,367,240 (Projected)
Total Funding	£25,706,537

Health Boards
2002-03	£4,790,678
2003-04	£5,117,335
2004-05	£5,998,304
2005-06	£6, 618, 163
2006-07	£6,753,076 (Projected)
Total Funding	£29,277,556

NIO
2002-03	£323,072
2003-04	£508,620
2004-05	£557,309
2005-06	£494,492
2006-07	£448,000 (Projected)
Total Funding	£2,331,493

NIHE
2003-04	£3,105,970
2004-05	£3,260,283
2005-06	£4,104,499
2006-07	£3,866,825 (Projected)
Total Funding	£14,337,577

Date

5 February 2007

Reference

1468; 689 c83WA

House

House of Lords

Amos, Baroness

What are the names of those people murdered to date in Northern Ireland in 2004, indicating which are considered victims of (a) paramilitary murders; (b) domestic murders; and (c) murders arising from street violence related to alcohol consumption. [HL 214]. - Including list.

Asked by

Lord Laird (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

2 February 2005

Reference

HL 214; 669 c37WA

House

House of Lords

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