HL Deb 08 February 1988 vol 493 cc4-5

2.44 p.m.

Lord Blyth

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to treat armed forces personnel who are dependent on alcohol and other addictive drugs.

The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Lord Trefgarne)

My Lords, I can assure the noble Lord that satisfactory procedures do exist in the armed forces for the control of alcohol and drug abuse. I refer your Lordships to the evidence given to the Armed Forces Bill Committee in February 1986, a copy of which is in the Library.

Lord Blyth

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that excellent reply. Can he say whether the forces use private treatment centres, and, if not, why not? If they do, who pays for that treatment? Can he also assure the House, bearing in mind that this is an extremely sensitive and rather secretive problem, that adequate channels are available for close relatives of people who may have this problem—perhaps the wives—to receive adequate, sympathetic advice and help?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, as I said in the earlier Answer, I believe that we have the facilities in place for the purposes which the noble Lord has rightly described. Perhaps the most important are those at the three main service hospitals in the United Kingdom. They are the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar; the Royal Air Force Hospital at Wroughton; and the army hospital at Woolwich. There are also units in Hong Kong and Germany. All those hospitals have an appropriate range of staff to deal with these problems. There are also other arrangements relating to the more informal purposes to which the noble Lord referred.

Lord Irving of Dartford

My Lords, in any of the hundred cases of alleged bullying, intimidation or ill-treatment that have been investigated since 1986, can the Minister say whether alcohol or drug abuse was in any sense judged to be a contributory factor?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, I do not think that I can claim that there was no question of any drunkenness in the cases to which the noble Lord has referred. The fact of the matter is, I fear, that for generations soldiers have been involved in drinking to a greater or lesser extent, and I dare say there was some evidence of that in the cases to which the noble Lord has drawn attention. However, that is perhaps another question.

Baroness Masham of Ilton

My Lords, what education is given to the armed forces on the problems of drug or alcohol addiction?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, we conducted a major study into these matters two or three years ago with particular reference to the possibility of drug abuse in the armed forces. Following that study, a range of new educational facilities have been put in place including lectures to those going abroad on exercise to countries where this may be a problem, the issue of leaflets and posters, and other forms of personal education.

Lord Leatherland

My Lords, is the Minister aware that in the front line on the Somme in 1915 we were given a tot of rum at daybreak and that this did a great deal to keep up our spirits when we were standing up to our waists in water?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, that only goes to show that there are two sides to any question.