Plea for £4m drug and alcohol support to continue

A council has issued a plea for a "vital" £4m grant for alcohol and drug treatment services to be renewed.

Cambridgeshire County Council was given three years of funding in 2022 as part of a nationwide government plan to tackle drugs.

The authority described the grant as "literally life-saving", but said there was uncertainty on whether it would continue beyond March 2025.

A spokesperson from the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said: "Addiction can ruin lives and it is vital that those who need help are given the right treatment at the right time."

They added: "We will prioritise public health measures to help people to live healthier lives, including reducing alcohol-related harms and delivering support to those living with a drug problem."

In 2021, the previous Conservative government began a 10-year strategy aimed at breaking drug supply chains, improving treatment and recovery, and achieving a "generational shift" in demand for drugs.

It awarded local authorities £900m in additional funding to spend on support services.

Most of the £4m grant in Cambridgeshire was spent on the service provider Change Grow Live - a charity providing drug and alcohol treatment for adults, as well as a smaller young person's treatment service run by Casus, which is part of the local NHS trust.

They provided early intervention advice and support, pharmacological treatment, pharmacy support such as needle and syringe programmes and residential rehabilitation, among other services.

Richard Howitt, chairman of council's adults and health committee, said the work currently being done was "at times literally life-saving".

He said: "The service we commission to treat drug and alcohol dependency is vital.

"I think it is important to feed back to the government in advance of the [autumn] budget, the need to continue funding it in Cambridgeshire.

"This is not a service we can afford to lose."

The council said if the grant ended in March 2025 there would be a £1.8m shortfall in its drug and alcohol treatment system next year.

In a report presented to the adults and health committee on Thursday, it said it was still in the "early stages" of delivering the government's programme and wanted to draw attention to the "risks associated" with ending the grant.

The council said more than 600,000 people across the country were estimated to be dependent on drugs or alcohol or both, but not yet receiving treatment.

Change Grow Live thanked the council for requesting the "vital funding needed" to continue its work in Cambridgeshire.

A spokesperson for the charity said: "An uncertain future due to the use of time-limited grant funding poses a risk to the availability and effectiveness of drug and alcohol support, not only in Cambridgeshire but across the country."

DHSC said it had allocated local authorities an additional £267m in 2024 to 2025 to improve the capacity and quality of drug and alcohol treatment services.

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