Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 21
Eleventh Report - Reducing the harm from illegal drugs
Published 9 Feb 2024
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Reducing the harm from illegal drugs All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We were concerned that the government’s drug strategy made little reference to women.70 Written evidence submitted by the Office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner underlined the limited consideration of women and girls in the strategy, and the lack of reference to wider work on women in the criminal justice system.71 This was reinforced by evidence submitted by Dr Fay Dennis of Goldsmiths, University of London, who highlighted that barriers to drug treatment were magnified for those marginalised by gender, sexuality, class and race.72 When asked what was being done to target different cohorts of people taking drugs, the JCDU told us it was aware there are specific barriers faced by women seeking treatment for drugs misuse but could not offer any examples of targeted treatment services. It is up to the combating drugs partnerships to draw up local needs assessments, taking account of the differing demographics in their area.73 61 Q 83 62 Qq 6, 38, 40 63 Supplementary evidence from Mr Mike Trace, Chief Executive Officer of Forward Trust, 13 December 2023 64 Q 40 65 Q 74 66 Supplementary evidence from Mr Mike Trace, Chief Executive Officer of Forward Trust 67 C&AG’s Report, para 1.3 68 Qq 118–121 69 C&AG’s Report, para 1.6 70 Q 136 71 (RHD0007) 72 (RHD0002) 73 Q 136 Reducing the harm from illegal drugs 15 Preventing drug use
From: Public Accounts Committee, Eleventh Report - Reducing the harm from illegal drugs (HC 72), 9 February 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 2 April 2024.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the Committee's recommendation on each of the six conclusions, giving target implementation dates of the end of 2024, March 2025 or April 2025, and describing one as already implemented.
- On sustained investment, the government agrees, and says the Joint Combating Drugs Unit and departments are "focused on developing a strong joint case for investment" at the next spending review, with a target date of the end of 2024.
- On funding certainty for local authorities, the government agrees and lists the recommendation as implemented. It says it "will give as much notice as is feasible" of future allocations, and published 2024-25 Public Health Grant allocations on 5 February 2024.
- On variations in local outcomes, the government agrees, with a target of March 2025. It cites targeted work by DHSC with 19 local authority areas, including "tailored performance improvement plans", and ongoing evaluation of local delivery.
- On reducing demand, the government agrees, with a target of April 2025. It "recognises there is more to do" and says work is underway to bring together the evidence, including a new cross-government innovation fund.