Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted
Significant Public Health Grant cuts have severely reduced funding for alcohol treatment services.
Conclusion
The Department is responsible for allocating the annual ring-fenced Public Health Grant (PHG) to local authorities each year. The PHG fell by £630 million (in 2021–22 prices), from £3.96 billion to £3.32 billion, over the period from 2015–16 to 2021–22.23 This has had inevitable consequences on funding for drug and alcohol treatment services, leaving services “on their knees” according to Dame Carol, author of the government’s independent review of drugs. Dame Carol told us that drug and alcohol services took one of the greatest reductions of all services affected by reductions in the PHG.24 The amount local authorities reported spending on drug and alcohol services fell by 27% in real terms from 2014–15 to 2021–22. Over the period from 2013–14 to 2020–21, the number of adults in England receiving treatment for problems with alcohol (and no other drugs) fell by 16%.25
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's implied recommendation regarding funding certainty. It committed to giving as much notice as feasible for Public Health Grant allocations, having already published indicative allocations for 2024-25 and aiming to publish final 2024-25 allocations before the end of 2023.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 3.2 The government is committed to improving certainty around funding for drug and alcohol treatment services to local authorities and agrees that this is important to enable local authorities to effectively plan and commission services, and deliver the right investments. 3.3 The department is committed to giving as much notice as is feasible of Public Health Grant allocations and any additional funding for drug and alcohol treatment services for future years. For example, the department has already published indicative Public Health Grant and drug strategy allocations for 2024-25 in order to support systems to plan ahead and will aim to publish 2024-25 allocations before the end of 2023.