Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Accepted
Extensive alcohol harm impacts deprived communities, but cost and dependency data are outdated
Conclusion
Alcohol harm impacts not only drinkers themselves but also their families and wider communities. It is linked to over 100 illnesses, can drive mental disorder, self-harm, and suicide, and is a major cause of preventable death. The Office for National Statistics reported that alcohol was linked to 42% of all violent crime in 2019–20, up from 40% in 2018–19, and there is evidence that it does most harm in our most deprived communities with five times as many liver deaths as the most affluent communities.18 Despite rises in ill health and deaths associated with alcohol, the Department last calculated the cost of alcohol harm in 2012. At the time, the Department of Health estimated the annual cost of alcohol-related harms to be around £21 billion, broken down as: £11 billion from alcohol-related crime; £7 billion from lost productivity through unemployment and sickness; and £3.5 billion to the NHS. The Department told us it recognised that it would not be advisable to rely on this data to accurately reflect levels of alcohol harm today and that work is underway to produce new cost figures.19As with the cost of harm, the Department’s understanding of the prevalence of alcohol dependency is also out of date. The NAO’s report shows that the estimate of 600,000 dependent drinkers in England dates back to 2018–19, based on survey research from 2014.20
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and has updated the 2012 estimated cost of alcohol to society to £25 billion in 2021 prices. It has also initiated a longer-term project to fully update this estimate, beginning with a review of evidence on costs to the NHS and labour market productivity.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 2.2 The annual cost of alcohol to society was estimated to be £21 billion in 2012. The department has updated this estimate to reflect inflation. In 2021 prices, the cost of alcohol to society is estimated at £25 billion. 2.3 The department has initiated an additional, longer-term piece of work to update the estimate of the cost of alcohol to society. The department has begun a review of existing evidence, starting with costs to the NHS and labour market productivity.