Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department’s strategy is for supporting children who are the children of alcoholics; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

Parents play a crucial role in how their children develop and behave and act as role models for them and we recognise that parental alcohol dependency can limit parenting capacity and this can have serious consequences for children.

A number of initiatives to ensure that children have the best possible start in life have been introduced:

– the national Healthy Child Programme supports children’s health and development, by providing parenting support and health promotion guidance; and

– the expanded Troubled Families programme launched in April 2015 offers support on health issues to up to 400,000 families, including for alcohol and drug misuse.

We have given local authorities more than £8 billion in funding over three years so they can put the right services in place to help their communities.

Public Health England’s role in supporting local authorities undertake their public health functions is vital in reducing the levels of alcohol harm and supporting young people with parents who are alcohol dependent.

As part of this Public Health England funded the “Alcohol and other Drug use: The Roles and Capabilities of Social Workers”. This guidance sets out the key roles for social workers in relation to substance misuse.