Alcohol and drugs

• About alcohol and drugs
• Recent developments
• Good practice
• Sources of help and support/signposting
• Evaluation and performance management

About alcohol and drugs

Tackling drugs and alcohol substance misuse has been a priority for local partners and government for more than a decade. Through drugs and alcohol action teams, councils, police, health services and other partners have been working across their boundaries to reduce drug and alcohol misuse.

Police and probation service research show upwards of 50 per cent of those arrested for trigger offences (property crime and robbery) were using Class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin prior to their arrest. The connections between substance misuse and crime and disorder are clear in UK government policy. This is reflected in both legislation such as the Police Reform Act 2002 and the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, and in various alcohol and drug misuse initiatives over the past decade or so.

Drugs and offending: research development statistics – on the Home Office website

Police Reform Act 2002 – on the Office of Public Sector Information website

Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 – on the Office of Public Sector Information website

National drug and alcohol responses are coordinated by the Home Office and Department of Health. Locally, partnerships set strategies and deliver services through drug action teams, or drug and alcohol action teams, many of which were set up in 2005. Their role is to:

• commission services and support structures
• monitor and report on performance
• communicate plans, activities and performance to stakeholders.

There is a useful video introduction to drug policy and practice featuring Brighton and Hove on the Local Government Channel.

Drugs: national problems and local solutions in Brighton and Hove – on the Local Government Channel website

Past developments

Schools survey

The ‘Schools Survey on Smoking, Drinking and Drugs’ gives the final outcome of the government’s challenging targets for drug use among young people.

Schools Survey on Smoking, Drinking and Drugs – on the NHS Information Centre website

Blueprint drug education research programme

Blueprint was the largest research programme of its kind ever run in England. It was designed to test the delivery of an evidence-based drug education programme for young people, supported by work with parents, wider communities, local media and health professionals.

The Blueprint programme – on the Tackling Drugs Changing Lives website

Youth Alcohol Action Plan

The Youth Alcohol Action Plan was launched in June 2008.

The Youth Alcohol Action Plan – on the DCSF website

The plan sets out the government’s five priorities:

1. stepping up enforcement activity to address young people drinking in public places
2. taking action with industry on young people and alcohol
3. developing a national consensus on young people and drinking
4. establishing a new partnership with parents on teenage drinking
5. supporting young people to make sensible decisions about alcohol.

New ten-year drug strategy

The new strategy (2008–2018) aims to restrict the supply of illegal drugs and reduce the demand for them. It focuses on protecting families and strengthening communities. The drug strategy is a cross-government initiative. While the Home Office has overall responsibility for the delivery of the strategy, the Department of Health is responsible for the drug treatment aspects which form a key part of the strategy.

Ten-year drug strategy (2008–2018) – on the Tackling Drugs Changing Lives website

Key drug treatment actions in the drug strategy:

• Drug treatment services will become even more personalised to meet individual needs.
• New kinds of treatment will be piloted and delivered through the National Treatment Agency.
• Treatment agencies will have a new role to work closely with Job Centres and housing services to help drug users re-establish their lives.
• Drug users claiming benefits will be required to attend a discussion with a specialist treatment provider.
• Family-based treatment services will be set up to protect more young people and families.
• Pooled budgets will be piloted to allow local partnerships to bring together funding streams to improve reductions in drug harm.
• Major improvements to prison drug treatment will be made to ensure better quality and more consistent drug treatment across all prisons.

Good practice

Case studies

Tackling Drugs, Changing Lives case studies – on the Home Office website

Alcohol-related crime on the Isle of Wight – on the Local Government Association website

Websites

Many drug action teams have informative websites with useful information for users, practitioners and the general public. Some good examples are:

Hackney DAAT: with pages on information, services and even jobs within the DAAT and its commissioned services.

Hackney Drug and Alcohol Action Team website

Essex DAAT: with advice on where to get help, as well as sections for specific groups including drug workers, service users, magistrates, duty sergeants and solicitors, some of which have podcasts.

Essex Drug Action and Alcohol Team website

Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland DAATs have come together in a shared website which publicises all their services including meetings and has a range of useful information for all stakeholders.

Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland DAAT website

Sources of help and support

Tackling Drugs, Changing Lives

The Home Office website Tackling Drugs, Changing Lives is a good one-stop shop source of information and support.

Tackling Drugs, Changing Lives – on the Home Office website

This website provides drugs professionals with the latest news and guidance from the government about the drug strategy. It contains sections on key areas of drugs issues as well as publications and case studies. You can also register for their newsletter.

Department of Health/NHS

The Department of Health has sections on its website on alcohol misuse and drug misuse containing details of health improvement campaigns, research and information useful for practitioners.

Drug misuse and alcohol misuse – on the Department of Health website.

The NHS has a section on people at risk of drug misuse on its website containing help and information as well as real life stories.

People at risk of drug misuse – on the NHS Choices website.

The National Treatment Agency (NTA) is a special health authority, created by the government in 2001 to improve the availability, capacity and effectiveness of treatment for drug misuse in England.

National Treatment Agency website

It aims to:

• double the number of people in effective, well-managed treatment from 85,000 in 1998 to 170,000 in 2008
• increase the proportion of people who successfully complete or, if appropriate, continue treatment.

DrugScope

DrugScope is an independent centre of expertise on drugs. It aims to inform policy development and reduce drug-related risk through information, effective responses to drug taking, research at local, national and international levels, advice on policy-making, encouragement of informed debate and speaking for its local member organisations.

DrugScope website

Frank

The Home Office’s Frank website and campaign, aimed at young people, carries lots of useful information including an A–Z of drugs.

Frank website

Drug Education Forum

The Drug Education Forum is the umbrella body for national organisations that deliver or support the delivery of drug education. The Forum promotes the provision of effective drug education for all children and young people in England.

Drug Education Forum website

Drugs and alcohol in the workplace

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has produced a section on its website on issues of drug use in the workplace.

Alcohol and drugs at work – a Health and Safety Executive website

London Drug Policy Forum

The London Drug Policy Forum assists, supports and advises policy makers on drug issues affecting the capital to promote good practice on education and prevention, community safety and improve services for drug users.

London Drug Policy Forum – on the City of London website

Evaluation and performance management

Public Service Agreements (PSAs)

An ‘Alcohol and Drugs Public Service Agreement’ has been published on the HM Treasury website. It is closely linked to several other public service agreements, for example action on young people and drugs is covered within the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ PSA on increasing the number of children and young people on the path to success.

PSA 25 – Alcohol and Drugs Public Service Agreement – on the HM Treasury website

It also directly reflects the development of the national indicator set for the local government performance framework, the new health and social care outcomes and accountability framework, the Home Office’s assessments of policing and community safety, the National Offender Management Service’s (NOMS) performance management framework and the Youth Justice Board’s performance management framework.

National indicators

National indicators relating to drugs and alcohol are:

• NI 38 Drug-related (Class A) offending rate PSA 25
• NI 39 Alcohol-harm related hospital admission rates PSA 25
• NI 40 Drug users in effective treatment PSA 25
• NI 41 Perceptions of drunk or rowdy behaviour as a problem PSA 25
• NI 42 Perceptions of drug use or drug dealing as a problem PSA 25.

Scrutiny

The Local Government Association (LGA) has produced guidance to help councillors and scrutiny teams tackle substance misuse locally. It contains key facts with model answers as a reference point.

Key questions on substance misuse (PDF, 4 pages, 394 KB)