Alcoholic Drinks: Children
Health
Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children between the ages of (a) 12 and 14, (b) 14 and 16 and (c) 16 and 18 living in (i) Medway unitary authority, (ii) Tonbridge and Malling unitary authority and (iii) Chatham and Aylesford constituency were receiving treatment for alcohol dependency in the latest period for which figures are available.
Anne Milton (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Public Health), Health; Guildford, Conservative)
It is not possible to provide the number of people receiving specialist alcohol interventions living in Tonbridge and Malling Unitary Authority or Chatham and Aylesford constituency. The number of 12 to 17-year-olds receiving specialist alcohol interventions in Kent and in Medway unitary authority is given in the following table.
| Age | 12-13 | 14-15 | 16-17 | Total |
| Kent | * | 46 | 67 | *115 |
| Medway | * | 6 | 8 | *15 |
| Note: All numbers under 5 have been suppressed to protect clients identification. Where totals could be derived, figures have been rounded to the to nearest 5 and marked with an asterisk ‘*’. Source: 2010-11 National Drug Treatment Monitoring System data for Primary alcohol clients in Kent and Medway Drug and Alcohol Action Team areas | ||||
Within these statistics, a young person's age is determined when they first start treatment or if they are already in treatment at the start of the year.
Young people and their treatment needs differ from adults. Very few young people develop dependency. Those who use drugs or alcohol problematically are likely to be vulnerable and experiencing a range of problems, of which substance misuse is one.
The majority of young people accessing specialist alcohol interventions have problems that require psychosocial, harm reduction and family interventions, rather than treatment for addiction. Most young people need to engage with specialist alcohol interventions for a short period, often weeks, before continuing with further support elsewhere within an integrated young people's care plan.