In the decade since the introduction of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 there has been a dramatic increase in drug use and drug-related death rates across England and Wales. Now, rehabilitation support provider Rehabs UK is calling for the government to do more, saying that 2021’s Drug Strategy falls far short of the change that’s needed.
In a new report, “The Impact of 10 Years of Cuts to Addiction Services”, Rehabs UK notes that:
The number of drug-related deaths in England and Wales rose 87.1% between 2012 and 2021 (ONS)
The decade spanning 2012-2021 saw 39.5% more drug-related deaths overall than the previous ten years (ONS) amounting to at least 10,800 excess deaths
Class A drug use among 16-25 year-olds rose 81% between 2013 and 2020, while overall drug use in this age group rose 23% (ONS)
Claims of ‘record funding’ in the 2021 drug strategy leave treatment spend well below 2012 levels, and fail to place emphasis on treating the causes of addiction rather than the effects
When changes outlined in the Health and Social Care Act 2012 came into force, in April 2013, they moved addiction services in England and Wales from being funded by the central government to being commissioned at the discretion of local authorities. And, each Conservative government since 2010 has made cuts to local authority funding.
With no set limit on how much cash should be ring-fenced for addiction treatment, things like training provision, staff roles and vital services have vanished as local authorities try to make millions of pounds worth of savings. Currently, 5 out of 12 English regions have no addiction psychiatry trainees at all (RCPsych).
“This government, and those before it, fail to see the damage they cause. Not to mention the strain these cuts place on those of us who are left to pick up the pieces. We and other rehab services do what we can, but the government must do more. The figures speak for themselves, the cuts have destroyed lives.” Says Lester Morse, Director of Rehabs UK.
Drug use among children and young people
Funding for school drug and alcohol support services fell -47% between 2015 and 2020(DfE), with Yorkshire, the South East and Outer London seeing the biggest cuts. Latest figures show that just under 1,200 hospital admissions for narcotics poisonings in England last year were young people aged 15-19, while 377 were children aged 10-14 (NHS).
A 2021 government report on drug use in young people notes that 76% of those starting treatment for addiction between April 2019 and March 2020 began using substances before their 15th birthday.
The government’s ‘drug strategy’ announcement
In December 2021, the government introduced its new 10-year drug strategy, pledging £780 million to “rebuild the drug treatment system” within this. Funds beyond this amount are focused on ‘enforcement’, rather than on treatment.
For 2022 to 2023, only £101.2 million has been allocated in additional grants for treatment and recovery services, beyond what was already in place.
Before the Health and Social Care Act was brought in, the annual budget spent by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse was £467 million. When adjusted for inflation, £467 million in 2012 is the equivalent of over £598.7 million today.
Even if the full £780 million on drug treatment is to be spent over 3 years rather than 10, that’s a decrease of -44.3% on previous annual spending, or -56.6% in real terms when accounting for inflation
“The government’s Drug Strategy is a farce.” Morse goes on to say. “For all their talk about how this is a record amount of spending on the drug treatment services, it is insufficient and barely gets us back to where services were before 2012.
“Even though the Dame Carol Black report says that for every £1 spent on addiction treatment, the treatment services give back a £4 return to society, money alone is not going to fix this. In my opinion, society needs to change its mind on how it treats addiction or we will forever be pouring money into a bottomless pit.
“The majority of funding is used to reduce the harmful effects of addiction, which creates a revolving door, parking people in treatment services until they die. We need to treat the cause of addiction before real change can happen – as we know recovery is possible!”
