Children with alcoholic parents are set to receive £6million of funding to get support

It is believed around 200,000 children in England live with parents who have alcohol issues, with charity NSPCC indicating alcohol misuse has prompted a 30 per cent increase of incoming calls and that it receives one call every hour related to drug or alcohol abuse.

Cash will be used to pinpoint children who at risk and bids to reduce the number of children going into care, whilst also providing support programmes for parents.

Funding has come from the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Labour shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth described the funding as “a breakthrough” before adding that the plans “would have made a tremendous difference to his childhood".

Mr Ashworth recounted in the Commons that his father used to “pick him up from school drunk” and that his fridge would be stocked with alcohol rather than food.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "The consequences of alcohol abuse are devastating for those in the grip of an addiction, but for too long, the children of alcoholic parents have been the silent victims. This is not right, nor fair.

"These measures will ensure thousands of children affected by their parent's alcohol dependency have access to the support they need and deserve.

"Some things matter much more than politics, and I have been moved by my Labour counterpart Jon Ashworth's bravery in speaking out so honestly about life as the child of an alcoholic.”

Research shows that having an alcoholic parent can have a long-lasting and devastating impact on a child, with children of alcoholics twice as likely to have problems at school.

They are also three times as likely to consider suicide and five times more likely to develop an eating disorder.

For more information on alcohol support and where to seek professional help, visit Counselling Directory.