£1m to tackle drug and drink addiction
HULL CLASSED AS ‘HIGH-NEED’ AREA FOR HELP
HULL has been classed as having a high level of need to tackle drug and alcohol addiction and is set to receive more than £1m in government funding.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced 50 local authorities, including Hull City Council, will receive a share of funding to bolster drug strategies. East Riding Council is due to receive £264,571 as well as £30,747 to treat addicts it is already helping as part of its efforts to combat drug and alcohol abuse.
It comes as DHSC unveiled £85.7m in additional grants in April to councils to tackle addiction over the next 12 months.
Enhanced funding is aimed at the 50 highest need areas to help them get drug deaths down, tackle deprivation, deal with opiate and crack cocaine prevalence and combat related crime.
A further £15.5m is also set to be invested into Project ADDER, Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery, the Government’s programme to combat drugs misuse.
The funding comes on top of the £780m total allocated to rebuild England’s drug treatment and recovery system.
The funding covers the next three years and aims to help users access treatment and to reduce crime as part of the Government’s strategy to boost drug prevention.
Hull is set for £100,278 for its inpatient detoxification allocation on top of the more than £1.08m it is getting for its drugs strategy.
The East Riding is not classed as a high needs area but is still in line for funding
It follows an independent review from Cambridge-based academic and former Government adviser Dame Carol Black which claimed funding cuts had left addiction treatment systems on their knees.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the funding would help save lives and level up the country.
The secretary of state said: “We’re investing a record amount in treatment services and ensuring some of the most deprived areas in England are first in line for this funding, to support the most vulnerable by cutting drug use.
“Treatment is just one element of our far-reaching strategy to better rehabilitate drug users, whether it’s helping people get jobs, creating a stable home or cracking down on supply.”
Nuno Albuquerque, of the UK Addiction Treatment Group (UKAT) private rehabilitation firm, said immediate therapy and treatment would also be needed to ween users off substances in the long term.
The consultant treatment lead said: “The extra, immediate funding for drug and alcohol treatment services in Hull is of course welcomed, but we hope it isn’t all smoke and mirrors.
“This money needs to be spent cleverly by the councils here and with the addict in mind.
“There’s no point spending money to detoxify people from drugs only to leave them on their own straight after. Their body will no longer be addicted, but their minds will be.”