§ Mr. McCrindleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what progress has been made in the establishment of a new national voluntary body to combat alcohol misuse; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John PattenI welcome the establishment, to be announced tomorrow, of the National Agency on Alcohol Misuse, which is to replace and build upon the work of the Alcohol Education Centre, the Federation of Alcoholic Rehabilitation Establishments and the National Council on Alcoholism.
The Government set out their approach to the problems caused by misuse of alcohol in the discussion document "Drinking Sensibly". Alcohol misuse has far-reaching results in terms of personal health, family disruption, inefficiency at work, loss of earnings, accidents and crime. However, attempts to influence the minority who misuse alcohol must, if they are to be realistic, respect the freedom of the majority who use alcohol responsibly.
In the Government's view, the reduction of alcohol misuse and the harm it causes requires a range of action by central and local government, voluntary and community bodies, the health professions and institutions, business—including the drinks trade—and trade unions.
The Government, for their part, continue to seek better information through surveys and research about the incidence and causes of problem drinking: to encourage health education to lead to healthier life styles, and earlier identification and help for the problem drinker at work; to assist statutory and voluntary action in prevention, treatment and rehabilitation; to influence professional education and to sponsor training initiatives, to alert and equip service providers to intervene earlier, and more 484W effectively, in problem drinking in the course of their everyday work. We believe the most helpful action is that which can be undertaken locally involving co-operation of the many interests and disciplines involved. This needs the development of effective local centres of knowledge and activities to bring together statutory agencies and voluntary bodies to plan prevention and service provision, within the general local structure of services.
Within this general strategy NAAM will be well placed to plan work on prevention in consultation with the Health Education Council, district health authorities, local authorities and local councils on alcoholism; to stimulate the formation of more local councils on alcoholism; and to extend and improve the network of local voluntary agencies and their collaboration with statutory authorities. It will also be able to act as a reliable source of balanced, factual information on alcohol misuse, to review and assess the training needs of the voluntary sector and to plan training activities which harmonise with those which are the responsibility of the professions and of statutory bodies for the in-service training of their staff.
In all these ways, NAAM will be able to reinforce the thrust of the Government's policies. We have undertaken to make substantial grant aid available to the new agency at the outset and we look forward to its rapidly establishing a reputation and authority in its field which will enable it to attract independent funding from other sources.