The Commission on Alcohol Harm was established to examine the current evidence on alcohol harm, recent trends in alcohol harm and the changes needed to reduce the harm caused by alcohol. The Commission’s remit was also to examine the need for a new comprehensive alcohol strategy for England, which takes account of the strategies in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to consider UK-wide priorities in areas where policy is not devolved.
List of Commissioners
Chair: Baroness Finlay of Llandaff
Crispin Acton, Expert Advisor, Institute of Alcohol Studies; formerly at Department of Health
Baroness Boycott
Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe
Hardyal Dhindsa, Police and Crime Commissioner for Derbyshire; Lead for Alcohol and Substance Misuse, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners
Prof Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair, Alcohol Health Alliance UK
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town
Prof Keith Humphreys, Professor of Psychiatry, Stanford University; Honorary Professor of Psychiatry, King’s College London
Baroness Jenkin of Kennington
Baroness Jolly
Kenny MacAskill MP
Prof Martin McKee CBE, FMedSci, Professor of European Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Prof John Newton, Director of Health Improvement, Public Health England
Paul Ogden, Senior Advisor, Public Health and Equalities, Local Government Association
Lord Ribeiro CBE, FRCS
Prof Jonathan Shepherd CBE, FMedSci, Crime and Security Research Institute, Cardiff University
Derek Thomas MP
The Commission received over 140 submissions of written evidence from organisations and individuals, of which around 40 were from people with direct lived experience of alcohol harm. The Commission heard testimony from 39 witnesses in four oral evidence sessions held in March 2020.
The costs of the Commission were borne by the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, which also provided research support, assistance with the writing of the report, and acted as the secretariat.