Alcohol Labelling Bill [HL]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Mitchell on introducing and securing the Second Reading of his Bill. I also congratulate him on the fine quality of his speech, as I do other noble Lords who have spoken. It hasbeen a short but highly informed and high quality debate. This issue, I know, is close to my noble friend’s heart, reflecting his close involvement with the National Organisation on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, to which I pay warm tribute today. The organisation is at the forefront of efforts to alert women to the potential dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, and its work is well known to the Government, particularly through its regular contact with my ministerial colleagues in the Department of Health. I commend the organisation and wish it well in the future. There is no doubt whatever that foetal alcohol syndrome is a devastating condition and the effects of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder on a child’s future life can be grave. The Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit interim analytical report on alcohol estimated that there are between 240 and 1,190 cases of foetal alcohol syndrome per year in England and Wales. Moreover, NOFAS estimates that in the UK as a whole, more than 6,000 children are born each year with the more prevalent condition of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. When my noble friend last spoke to the House about this subject, he painted a worrying picture of the health symptoms of the syndrome and the spectrum disorder. He did so again today and was very persuasive on that point. His remarks and those of the noble Baroness, Lady Neuberger, about the problems of misdiagnosis and non-diagnosis were also persuasive. It is clear that much more needs to be done to educate health professionals in this area. Understandably, our debate took in a number of issues around alcohol consumption. There is no question that, particularly among young women, there has been an increase in alcohol consumption. The evidence that I have is that the proportion of16 to 24-year old women who had drunk more than six units on at least one day in the previous week increased from 24 per cent to 28 per cent between 1998 and 2002 but had fallen to 22 per cent in 2005. Thirty-nine per cent of women aged 16 to 24 reported drinking more than three units on at least one day compared with 5 per cent of those aged 65 and over. Average weekly alcohol consumption in the past 12 months in England for women increased from 5.5 units in 1992 to 7.6 units in 2002. Among women, the proportion drinking more than the recommended weekly benchmark of 14 units increased from 12 per cent in 1992 to 17 per cent in 2002. Nine per cent of women are drinking more than twice the recommended daily amount and 15 per cent of women drink at hazardous or harmful alcohol levels. The latest figures that I have are that in the UK in 2000, 30 per cent of mothers who drank before pregnancy reported giving up drinking during pregnancy. Those mothers who continued to drink during pregnancy reported drinking very little, and71 per cent of those who continued to drink consumed less than one unit of alcohol a week on average. Only 3 per cent drank on average more than seven units a week. In 2000, 87 per cent of mothers who had recently given birth reported drinking alcohol before their pregnancy and 61 per cent continued to drink while they were pregnant—a fall from 66 per cent in 1995. I understand that older mothers are more likely to drink during pregnancy—71 per cent of mothers aged 35 or over did so compared with 53 per cent of those under 20. Thirty per cent of mothers who drank before pregnancy reported giving up drinking during pregnancy, which compares to 24 per cent in 1995. In addition to the 30 per cent of mothers who gave up drinking during their pregnancy, 65 per cent said that they reduced their alcohol intake. Clearly, there are a lot of statistics there. They suggest that there is a general issue about an increase in alcohol consumption, but they also suggest that pregnant women have taken to heart some of the messages that have come through. Noble Lords made a number of interesting remarks on the question of units of alcohol. Noble Lords will know that the Chief Medical Officer recommends that men should not regularly drink more than three to four units a day and that women should not regularly drink more than two to three units a day. The definition that I have of a unit is8 grams of alcohol—typically, one small glass of wine, one half pint of beer, though not a strong variety of beer, and one measure of spirits. However, I fully accept the arguments made by noble Lords that the size of glasses can vary considerably and the use of very large glasses has become more frequent, both in pubs and restaurants but also at home. Equally, more generally, I take to heart the point that the noble Earl, Lord Howe, and my noble friend raised about the lack of awareness in that regard. The noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, made some very telling points about the more general issues in relation to alcohol, and gave some recommendations forthe Government to take on board. I listened very carefully to that. We launched the alcohol harm reduction strategy for England in 2004, with the specific aim of minimising the harm caused by alcohol through better education, prevention efforts and the improved identification and treatment of alcohol problems. We are committed this year to reviewing that strategy and to identifying what further actions we wish to take. Of course, today’s debate will be very helpful in informing officials as they advise the Government on taking the new strategy forward. We have launched the Know Your Limits campaign—the first national campaign on alcohol, focusing on young people who binge drink, to which a number of noble Lords have referred. We are taking action to tackle underage drinking, which has led to targeted enforcement including the wider use of issuing fixed penalty notices. Drinkaware Trust has been established as a new organisation, independent of government and the alcohol industry, and it is developing work to change behaviour and the UK national drinking culture. We have developed Models of Care for Alcohol Misuse Services, published in June 2006, and we have launched alcohol misuse interventions, which is guidance on developing local programmes of improvement. We are not complacent; we understand very clearly the importance of action in this area. As I have said, the review of this strategy in 2007 will be a very good way in which to take on board the comments that noble Lords have made today. The noble Lord, Lord Monson, and the noble Earl, Lord Howe, referred to the evidence specifically in relation to alcohol drinking by pregnant women. In 2005, my department commissioned the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit to undertake a review of existing evidence. The main aims were to update what we knew from existing evidence about the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure. The principal findings were that there is no consistent evidence that low to moderate consumption of alcohol during pregnancy has any adverse effects, although there is some evidence that binge drinking can affect neuro-development of the foetus. The department has commissioned a recent review from the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit on the effects of low to moderate alcohol consumption in pregnancy. The review has broadly concluded in support of the scientific conclusions of the 1995 Sensible Drinking working group. I have to say that this evidence base is not strong. While the current advice remains scientifically correct, there is a perception that it might be construed as too permissive. It is interpreted by some as meaning that it is safe to drink a little when pregnant, when a little can differ from person to person. Most women, as we know, stop drinking or drink very little in pregnancy, so a slightly stronger message could be aimed at those who do not reduce their consumption to appropriate levels. I echo the words of the noble Earl, Lord Howe, that action must be based on scientific evidence. His speech was atour de force of some of the available evidencethat we now have. It is clear that we do not have enough evidence—but clearly we need to do more to obtain it. It is clearly important that labelling is used as a strong component in a preventive approach. We are committed to action on labelling, as was laid out in the Government’s alcohol harm reduction strategy, which was published in 2004. We know that the public support labelling. I refer noble Lords to the recently published Eurobarometer survey on attitudes to alcohol, which showed that almost eight out of10 people agree with putting warning labels on alcohol products and in adverts, in particular, towarn pregnant women of the dangers of misusing alcohol. In the UK, 75 per cent of people supported labelling. Labelling is not a panacea and is no substitutefor other actions, such as education and wider information. The evidence for the effectiveness of health warnings alone is not particularly strong, but it can be an essential component of a broader strategy to help consumers to estimate their own unit consumption and to help people to become more conscious of drinking in relation to their health. I agree with the noble Earl, Lord Howe, and my noble friend that doing nothing is not an option. We are working in close partnership with the alcohol industry and wider stakeholders to implement the many initiatives that were set out in the 2004 alcohol harm reduction strategy. Industry has shown its willingness to help us to achieve that aim and we know that more than 75 per cent of spirit labels and 85 per cent of beer for sale in the UK market already carries information on unit content. It is much less for wine and it is clear that more needs to be done. It is also pleasing to remark that many supermarkets’ own brand beers, wines and spirits include that information on their labels—but we need to move beyond this. Providing only unit information, important though it is, is not sufficient. We have asked the industry to go further to ensure that there is more consistency and visibility in the information that is provided and to add a short health message on drinking for adults and on pregnancy to ensure a link to the Government’s wider campaigns, and that there is an agreed timetable for intervention. We want government intervention to regulate the industry to be proportionate. We do not want to impact unfairly on responsible consumers, manufacturers and retailers, and we need to work with industry on this, but we are not opposed in principle to legislating in this area should a voluntary approach fail or prove ineffective. I can say to the noble Baroness, Lady Neuberger, that I think that that is an entirely sensible approach. If in a very short time we can pull off an agreement with industry that produces the kind of advice that we want, that is a very desirable way forward.