The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) launched the Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in England: Consultation Exercise on 22 June 2015. The consultation is open for 6 weeks and will close on 03 August 2015. The SDD survey has been running since 1982 and is designed to monitor smoking, drinking and drug use among secondary school pupils aged 11 to 15 in England. It is the national source of information on smoking, drinking and drug use among young people for government departments as well as the NHS and Local Authority public health bodies.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to secure public funds for the SDD survey and although funding for surveys in 2016 and 2018 is guaranteed, there is no guaranteed funding for surveys in the intervening years (2017 and 2019). The HSCIC are therefore currently reviewing the format and content of the SDD survey and are consulting with potential users of the data to ensure the survey continues to be relevant and to meet their needs.
A questionnaire and full details of the consultation are available on the Health and Social Care Information Centre website.
Your views will help determine what information on smoking, drinking and drug use amongst young people is collected through this survey in the future and how it is reported.
