§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
To what extent the big differential in heavy drinking indicators "between the diplomatic and the Home Civil Service staff appears to have narrowed since 1972, and what are the reasons for this trend.
§ Baroness YoungThere is no dependable evidence of any differential in "heavy drinking indicators" between Diplomatic and Home Civil Service staff. The noble Lord may have in mind the differing proportions of abnormal liver function tests in Diplomatic and Home Civil Service personnel reports by a central laboratory. The home civil servants screened were not representative of the Home Civil Service and valid comparisons cannot be made. In both populations surveyed the percentages with "heavy drinking indicators" were considerably lower than those reported in the population at large.
§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What examination has been conducted by the Civil Service Department of the extent to which alcohol abuse causes avoidable costs in the public service.
§ Baroness YoungAvoidable costs due to alcohol abuse are among the most difficult areas of study in a subject with great difficulties of measurement. Although the Civil Service Department (and now the Management and Personnel Office) has maintained close surveillance of the field, it, in common with other employing organisations in the United Kingdom, has found no dependable method of estimating such costs.