Call for government action on children affected by alcohol misuse

A coalition of eleven charities and academics have written to the Children’s Minister Beverley Hughes today calling for urgent action to address the “misery” of children in the UK affected by parental alcohol misuse.

The letter signed by charities including Turning Point, Barnardos and the Children’s Society calls for the government to launch a national inquiry on parental alcohol misuse and to develop new services for children and parents.

Turning Point’s chief executive, Lord Victor Adebowale, said: ”The government cannot ignore the children and families affected by alcohol misuse any longer. We are dealing with a major social and public health challenge which devastates hundreds of thousands of lives.

“The strength of support from other leading organisations and from the general public is giving the profile of this issue a great boost. We hope to see imminent commitment from the government to assess the scale of the impact of parental alcohol misuse and begin to work with agencies to find new ways to support families.”