§ Mr. Hoyleasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department has any estimate of the number of offences in which alcohol was a contributory factor, in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MellorComprehensive estimates are not available of the number of offences in which alcohol was a contributory factor. Results from the "British Crime Survey" suggest that in 1983 approximately 45 per cent. of offences of wounding or assault were committed by people who were thought by their victims to have been drinking. Statistics of convictions for offences of driving after consuming alcohol or taking drugs are published annually in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin "Offences Relating to Motor Vehicles" (Table 5.1 of the latest Issue number 28/85). Statistics of convictions and cautions for offences of drunkenness are published annually in the Statistical Bulletin "Offences of Drunkenness" (Issue No. 33/85).