Lord Ouseley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Ouseley on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they are giving to providing support for the estimated 2.5 million children being brought up by parents who are heavy alcohol drinkers.

Lord Nash

We are clear that all children at risk of abuse or neglect – including those children who may be a risk because of their parent’s alcoholism – must be identified early, have timely and proportionate assessments of their individual needs, and have the right services provided at the right time.

That is why the Government has put in place a range of cross-Government programmes and funding to support children and families, including children of alcoholics. We have invested more than £8 billion to help councils put services in place to protect children at risk of abuse or neglect, including from alcoholic parents. We have encouraged councils to find new ways to tackle problems through our £100m children’s social care Innovation Programme. And we have expanded the Troubled Families programme launched in April 2015, which offers support on health issues to up to 400,000 families, including for alcohol and drug misuse.