With every passing week the policies and position of the Coalition government are becoming clearer and more detailed so it seems prudent to take the opportunity to collate some of the key information that has emerged so far through policies and speeches. To date there have already been important health policy, education policy developments and information released about the forthcoming alcohol taxation review. These are will be the areas of focus in this short briefing.

Key speeches have been given by both Andrew Lansley and Anne Milton. Andrew Lansley’s speech looked at a broad range of public health issues including alcohol and drugs but focused on the approach to public health. He spoke about the need for young people to have a better understanding of drinking and drug use and to be equipped with the skills to deal with the challenges and pressures that they face.

He spoke at some length about the potential impact that social norms could have in conveying important messages.

The Secretary of State spoke of the need to change the way that drinking and drug use is viewed so that young people view its use as immature and to give young people the confidence and self-esteem which will allow them to make better decisions. There was a strong focus on responsibility.

Following on from these comments Mr Lansley went on to say:

Anne Milton the Public Health Minister gave a speech specifically on alcohol policy and again, the focus was very much on responsible behaviour and decision making skills. The Public Health Minister spoke of the need to change our relationship, both adults’ and young peoples’, with alcohol and in order to achieve these aims collaboration across Whitehall would be necessary, she goes on to say:

Two areas of note were mentioned in Anne Milton’s speech, firstly the taxation review which is looking at alcohol taxation and pricing. There is an invitation for interest groups to submit comments before 31^st August 2010. There will also be workshops held over the summer before the report in the autumn.

The second area of interest is the proposed responsibility deal which will require businesses and industries to fund public health campaigns in order to take responsibility for the impact of their products. The suggestion here is for the alcohol industry to take part in campaigns such as Change4Life.

The final health policy development of note is the NHS White Paper. This white paper seeks to dramatically change the approach to commissioning and the structure of the NHS. Whilst most commissioning powers will be transferred to GPs, Public Health commissioning will be the responsibility of Local Authorities. The Public Health Service will be created to take charge of public health and each LA will have a Director of Public Health who will be jointly appointed by the LA and the Public Health Service. The government have made clear their intention that the budget for public health will be ring-fenced the King’s Fund has commented on the potential risk in this transfer of power. However the Department of Health has said that they:

The AERC have said that they are looking at their options, all of which involve their continuation as they are funded not by government but, principally, by charitable funds. They plan to continue their work and encourage people to continue submitting research and grant applications.

The same review of arms length bodies noted NICE’s public health guidance and said:

The policy developments emerging from the Department for Education have been no less significant.

The primary curriculum commissioned by the previous government has been cancelled and plans to support PSHE education cut, the secondary curriculum is set to see changes as well. The Department has said that the curriculum will be going back to its original purpose with less central guidance. Ministers have made clear their determination that the new curriculum will be focused on core subjects, there is currently no indication as to what this means for PSHE education.

The Academies Bill is currently in Parliament, this legislation will create more academies and introduces the opportunity for free schools to be set up; the government’s intention is that academies and free schools should be able to disapply the national curriculum should they choose to do so.

Ministers have also signaled their intent to extend the search powers available for head teachers as of 1^st September. Previously head teachers had the right to search for knives, weapons and drugs, they will now also be able to search for alcohol, legal highs, cigarettes, stolen property, pornography, fireworks and personal electronic devices. 

It has been announced that the Tellus survey has been discontinued. Data from the last survey will be available for participating schools until 17^th September. Tellus had included questions about the prevalence of drug use by young people and the results had been used by the previous government as a national indicator of drug use.  Young Minds report that the Department, when asked how they will measure children’s emotional health and wellbeing in future, said that this is “all to be determined”.

The DfE have published a report looking at young people’s alcohol consumption and its relationship to other behaviours and outcomes. The authors conclude that girls and white young people are more likely to drink alcohol and to drink more often. A link between being bullied and drinking was established as well as a number of risk and protective factors. Risk factors highlighted included truanting, shoplifting, smoking, smoking cannabis, going to pubs or parties and ‘hanging around’. Protective factors included religion, receiving free school meals, family and improving attitudes and aspirations.

NICE have recently published a report looking at PSHE and which includes information on the cost effectiveness of alcohol education. The report states that a programme which costs £75m but which results in at least a 1.4% reduction in alcohol consumption amongst young people would be cost effective.

The NIHR has also put out a call for research bids to prevent hazardous drinking amongst school children and young people. The deadline for applications is 23^rd August.

This document will be updated in the coming months when more policy developments have been announced.

July 30^th 2010.