Alcoholics face benefit cut unless they get treatment

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by Change | 15 Apr 2009

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Alcoholics could be required to receive addiction treatment if they are to receive benefits under new plans being put forward by the government.

Ministers are considering new proposals to force alcoholics into getting addiction treatment by preventing them from receiving benefits if they refuse.

Under new plans aimed at cutting the number of jobless people receiving benefits, the government is hoping to link the payment of benefits to the use of alcohol rehab facilities among alcoholics.

Work and pensions minister James Purnell said the government had already introduced a similar policy to help drug addicts receive treatment for their problems.

"We will actually help them rather than simply handing them money which ends up in pockets of drug dealers," he explained.

Mr Purnell suggested leaving people for long periods on benefits while they have an alcohol addiction would not help them tackle their problem.

However, shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May accused the government of doing "too little, too late" to crack down on the problem of alcohol addiction.

A recent study in Scotland found that drug and alcohol addiction is costing the country in the region of £5 billion per year.

Scottish ministers have unveiled plans to link the price of alcoholic beverages to their strength, something that has also been suggested by the UK's chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson.

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