Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2015-12-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment the Ministry of Justice has made of whether there is a correlation between alcohol consumption and criminal activity.

Lord Bates

Alcohol is a contributory factor in crime and disorder. The Home Office has estimated that alcohol-related crime costs society around £11.4 billion per year.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales data from 2013/14 showed that around half (53%) of all violent crimes are alcohol-related, with two-thirds (64%) of all violent crimes involving strangers attributable to alcohol-consumption. Alcohol is also associated with over a third (36%) of domestic violence incidents.

There is also a link between non-violent crime and alcohol. 36% of penalty notices for disorder in 2014/15 were issued for being drunk and disorderly. Alcohol is closely associated with anti-social behaviour with nearly one fifth of adults (18%) perceiving people being drunk or rowdy as a problem in their local area in 2014/15.