Alcoholism and Drugs: Rehabilitation
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to announce the future funding for drug and alcohol treatment provision as part of the Drugs Strategy in time for services to avoid commencing redundancy consultations; and if he will change future treatment funding announcement cycles to give local authorities more time to (a) plan and (b) commission such services.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Government supports investment in drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services, to ensure that those people with a substance use need get appropriate help and support. In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department has allocated local authorities a further £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. This is alongside £105 million made available by the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to improve employment and housing support.
My Rt. Hon. friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced updates to the fiscal framework, and earlier this year launched the Spending Review which has now settled the 2025/26 departmental budgets. She has also made it clear that the Government will conclude a multi-year Spending Review in spring 2025. In future, we anticipate that Spending Reviews will be set every two years to cover a three-year period, including a one-year overlap with the previous Spending Review, helping build in greater certainty and stability over public finances.
Now that the Autumn Budget has been completed, the Department is working to be able to announce future funding allocations for drug and alcohol treatment and recovery systems. We will communicate with the sector about this as soon as we are able to, as we recognise the importance of this information in maintaining delivery and planning for 2025/26.
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