Government accused of cutting vital drug and alcohol services as £43m slashed from addiction budgets
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth warns against ‘failing the most vulnerable’
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Your support makes all the difference.The Government has been accused of presiding over “staggering cuts” to vital drug and alcohol services, forcing town halls to slash £43m from addiction budgets in one year.
More than two thirds of councils have had to cut back on lifeline services for drug and alcohol abuse due to the squeeze on Government funding as drug-related deaths hit record levels, according to Labour.
Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth, who has spoken out about growing up with an alcoholic father, will accuse ministers of “failing some of the most vulnerable” in a conversation with the comedian Russell Brand at a fringe event during the Labour conference.
MPs were moved to tears in Parliament earlier this year when Mr Ashworth spoke of caring for his dad, also called Jon, from when he was just eight years old, as his father was often too drunk to buy food or walk him home from school.
Mr Brand – who has been vocal about his struggle with alcohol, drugs and sex addiction – will join the Labour MP at Momentum’s festival, the World Transformed, after keeping a relatively low-profile in politics since he backed Ed Miliband during the 2015 election.
Mr Ashworth will say: “These are staggering cuts to addiction and prevention services including cuts to support for children with drug and alcohol problems.
“The Tories are cynically imposing multi-million pound cuts on councils and the result is reductions in essential services to prevent and treat addiction.
“It’s yet another example of how this Tory Government is dismantling the country’s public health system.
“The long-term effect will be growing addiction problems in society and increases the long-term costs for the health services.”
Analysis of official figures revealed 106 of the 152 local authorities in England are cutting £28.4m from their drug treatment budgets in 2017/18 compared with the previous year, while 95 councils are slashing £6.5m from their funds for alcohol abuse over the same period.
Services for children needing help with drink and drugs will be slashed by £8.3m by 70 town halls, the figures show.
Cuts to public health funding have spiralled to some £105m since the Government stopped ring-fencing the budgets in 2012/13, The Independent recently revealed.
Town hall leaders have previously warned that cuts are a short-term fix that will heap pressure on the NHS and other public services down the line.
Izzi Seccombe, chair of the Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board, said: “We have long argued that reductions by central government to the public health grant in local government is a short-term approach and one that will only compound acute pressures for the NHS and other services further down the line.
“To take vital money away from the services which can be used to prevent illness and the need for treatment later down the line is counterproductive.”
Karen Tyrell, of the charity Addaction, told The Independent: “We know that drug and alcohol services make a massive difference for people who are often at their lowest point when they come to us. It really does save lives.
“Every £1 spent on drug treatment saves £2.50, so every penny taken away needs to be carefully considered.
“Supporting addiction services is crucial to tackling both drug-related deaths and alcohol-related hospital admissions.”
The Department of Health has previously argued that councils are best placed to make decisions about public health spending, with support from the Government to deliver their commitments.
A DoH spokesperson said: "We are providing local authorities with £16 billion over the current spending period to deliver public health services for their communities. Local areas are best placed to understand local needs, and a clear condition of spending this is that they must consider the need to improve the take up of, and outcomes from, their drug and alcohol-misuse treatment services."
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