Funding for drug treatment services is set to increase as the Government looks to build on the progress made in getting people into treatment over the last few years.
Public Health Minister, Caroline Flint, announced the Pooled Drug Treatment Budget is to increase from ??375m to ??388m for 2007/8. In addition, ??10m capital funding will also be distributed.
Caroline Flint said:
"Significant progress is being made on getting drug misusers into treatment. Record levels of investment have delivered record numbers entering and staying in drug treatment services.
"For every ??1 spent on treatment, at least ??9.50 is saved in crime and health costs. This funding will help to provide a life away from drugs for the user and a new future for families, friends and communities affected by the impact of drug addiction.
"But there is always room for improvement. Having succeeded in widening access to services we will continue to focus on improving the effectiveness of drug treatment.
This announcement demonstrates drug treatment remains a key priority for funding for Government."
In order to tackle variations in the amount of funding per head that have been identified, those Drug Action Teams who were receiving the least money per person treated will see an increase in their funding.
Alison Comley, Head of Community Safety & Drugs Strategy, Safer Bristol Drug Action Team said:
"Bristol is delighted to be receiving ??1.3m extra from central government to fund drug treatment in the city next year. Without this significant growth in funding we would not be able to continue to increase the numbers of drug misusers accessing treatment and the quality of treatment they receive.
"This will also mean increases in the number of offenders entering treatment each week. This is already making a measurable impact on reducing crime."
The Audit Commission said:
The Audit Commission has been working with the National Treatment Agency to assist local areas to benchmark their unit costs and enable them to start discussions where these appear above or below the regional and/or national average. Initial reports have already been given to each Drug Action Team area, which will be followed in March by the release of a database tool which will further assist this process.
Notes:
Although overall responsibility for the delivery of the Government's Drugs Strategy rests with the Home Office, the drug treatment element is the responsibility of the Department of Health.
Drug Action Teams are a body made up of all the key local partners (eg. PCT's, Local Authorities, the Police and Probation) and they have responsibility for the commissioning of drug treatment services to meet the needs of their local population.
The National Treatment Agency (NTA) were set up as a Special health Authority in April 2001 with the remit of expanding the availability and quality of drug treatment. They are also responsible for monitoring the spend of the Pooled Drug Treatment budget. They are accountable to the Secretary of State for Health.
For areas which have had significantly more per person treated in recent years than others - including a 28 per cent increase in funding in 2006/7 alone - there will be a small reduction in their funding. This will begin to narrow the gap between the lowest and highest spend per person treated and ensure that improvements to both the quality and availability of treatment services will be sustained in all areas.
Areas that spend less than ??2,198 per head on drug treatment will be receiving increases.
The NTA and Strategic Health Authorities will be working with the small number of areas who are receiving reduced funding to ensure that delivery is not jeopardised.
Recent work conducted by the Audit Commission and the National Treatment Agency to benchmark treatment costs have shown where savings can be made without affecting delivery and will be used by all areas to identify how to make savings without affecting delivery . They will also help all areas identify how to make better use of their funding in future.
The Public Service Agreement (PSA) target for numbers in drug treatment was met two years early.
We are also on track to meet the PSA target for increasing the numbers retained or successfully completing treatment year on year.
Average national waiting times for treatment have fallen almost three quarters since 2001 (from 9.1 weeks in December 2001, to 2.4 weeks in September 2005)
DH also supports the delivery of the Home Office target for 1,000 offenders to enter treatment each week by March 2008.
For further information please go to:
UK Department of Health
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