£267 million pounds allocated to improve drug and alcohol treatment across England
Every local authority across the country will receive a share of the more than a quarter-of-a-billion pound pot
Last updated 13th Nov 2023
The Government is giving £267 million to council leaders across England in an effort to boost local drug and alcohol treatment and combat crime.
Ministers say local authorities will receive more money from April.
The hope is that the improvement to treatments will have a knock-on effect to reducing crime as well.
The funding comes as part of the government's 10-year drug strategy to improve quality and access of drug and alcohol treatment by reducing drug use to a 30-year low.
This investment will enable local authorities to:
- Recruit more specialised staff to work with people with drug and alcohol problems
- Support more prison leavers into treatment and recovery services
- Help reduce crime by increasing the number of people receiving structured drug and alcohol treatment, as well as improving the quality of treatment provided, which in turn helps make streets safer by getting people out of drug use addictions which is known to drive offending.
The Government says this strategy and investment will aim to reverse the upward trend in drug-related deaths that has grown in the last decade,
Treatment will be available for a wide range of substances, including heroin, crack, powder cocaine, ecstasy, and cannabis - the latter remaining the most common substance for which young people receive treatment.
This funding is prioritised for areas with the highest need, based on the rate of drug deaths, deprivation, opiate and crack cocaine prevalence and crime, considering of the size of the treatment population.
Health Minister Neil O’Brien said: “Drug addiction drives about half of all crimes, so by investing in high quality and greater availability of treatment we can reduce crime rates and save lives.
“We aim to raise the number of people getting drug and alcohol treatment to a record high by investing through the long term investment we’ve been making over the last three years.
“Today’s allocations will see £267 million go directly to local authorities and their partners to improve services, increase capacity and quality of treatment and recovery systems, and is based on the recommendations made by Dame Carol Black in her independent review.”
The strategy also sets out that illegal drug use such as heroin and crack addiction are connected to half of all homicides, and nearly half of all burglaries, robberies and other acquisitive crimes.
Dame Carol Black’s independent review of drugs found the best way to tackle this issue is by boosting the capacity of the treatment and recovery system.
Professor Dame Carol Black, independent adviser to the government on combating drug misuse, said: “A key aim of my report was to make sure vulnerable people with substance misuse problems can access the support and tools needed to recover and lead full lives.
“Today’s allocations of almost £267 will go directly to local authorities and their partners, meaning they can deliver treatment that is tailored to meet local needs.
“The end goal is to get many people into world-class recovery and treatment system, reduce drug use and drug related crime – and ultimately save lives.”
This funding is in addition to £95.4 million made available in 2022 to 2023 and £154.3 million for this year – with an overall additional investment of £421 million into drug and alcohol treatment since April 2022.