Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 40
40
Accepted in Part
Extend Project ADDER nationally or preserve progress in pilot locations post-2025 conclusion.
Recommendation
We recommend that Project ADDER be extended across all of England and Wales if the assessments indicate that the Project is effect in achieving all of its aims: reducing drug-related deaths, drug-related offending, drug use, and disrupting the supply and trafficking of drugs. If the Government does not extend Project ADDER beyond the pilot phase, we recommend that it must make clear how it will preserve the progress made in the existing 13 pilot locations beyond 2025. (Paragraph 141) Drugs 77 Health-led harm reduction
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts the recommendation, deferring a decision on extending Project ADDER until after the 2025 evaluation, but commits to being clear on how progress will be preserved in existing pilot locations beyond 2025, through mechanisms like Combating Drugs Partnerships.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
The Government partially accepts this recommendation. The Government remains fully committed to Project ADDER and is currently working with OHID to plan the evaluation of the project. This will be published in 2025 following the conclusion of the programme. The evaluation will assess the outcomes of the programme across the 13 ADDER sites and provide a robust evidence base to inform future policy. The Government will be clear on how it plans to preserve progress made in the existing 13 pilot locations beyond 2025 and is already considering the options to do so, building on the learning from Project ADDER. In July 2023, the Government established 106 Combating Drugs Partnerships (CDPs) across every area in England, to drive local multi-agency delivery. These are overseen by Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) to represent and account for local delivery and performance to central government. CDPs are a key vehicle to embed the learning from Project ADDER and other evidence-based approaches. This will help to ensure that the progress and achievements in the ADDER sites can be replicated in other local areas. These partnerships also ensure that multi-agency action on treatment, recovery, prevention and enforcement are delivered locally. The Government believes that the experience of Project ADDER can be transferred into a model for every CDP for the future. The Government will publish an assessment of Project ADDER following its conclusion, which will include consideration of wider rollout.