Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 28
28
Accepted
Paragraph: 104
Drug strategy overlooks family role in recovery; mental health support for families insufficient.
Conclusion
We welcome the strategy’s commitment to supporting families. It focuses on the important role of the family in preventing drug use, particularly in relation to young people. However, it does not recognise the role that families can play in the treatment and recovery of family members who have already developed a dependence on drugs. Our discussions with families also made it clear that the level of support available for families, particularly mental health support, could be improved.
Government Response Summary
The government accepted the conclusion, stating the Drug Strategy acknowledges the role of families and that £533 million in grant funding can be used by local authorities to develop family support services and embed mental health support. OHID has also published guidance and a guide for commissioning such services.
Paragraph Reference:
104
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government accepts these recommendations. The Drug Strategy acknowledges the invaluable role that families and carers play in supporting people in treatment and recovery, and states that services should ensure that family members and carers are supported to engage in the treatment and recovery process and should provide support to the whole family. The Government has supported this through significant additional investment, including through the £533m allocated to local authorities through the Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery Grant (SSMTR Grant) over 2022–25. The SSMTR Grant provides additional funding for local authorities to rebuild their drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services, including increasing the number of specialist drug and alcohol workers. This funding can be used by local authorities to develop local services to support families and carers, and to embed specialist mental health support within drug treatment and support services, in line with local need and priorities. OHID is also working with NHS England to ensure better integration between drug and alcohol treatment and mental health services. This includes establishing two national programmes to improve integration between drug and alcohol treatment services, and adult and children’s mental health services. In addition, OHID has supported the production of an extensive e-learning package for drug and alcohol professionals on supporting families and carers, which has been completed by over 2,600 learners and rated on average as 4.6 out of 5. OHID has also published guidance and supported national and regional networks to help local areas develop effective services to support families and carers. For example, in February 2023, OHID published a guide for local areas on the commissioning of substance misuse services for parents and carers, including recommendations on how to provide mental health support for families and carers. This guide was developed with extensive input from people with lived experience. Furthermore, the Drug Strategy sets out our aim to reduce the numbers of children living in families with parental substance misuse. A key part of this is the Supporting Families Programme, which works to improve the lives of children, young people, and their families by joining up services at a local level. This programme is backed by over £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025.