Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 25
25
Accepted
Substance misuse prevention requires integrated 'whole of society' approach addressing root causes
Conclusion
Ms Wiseman told us that preventing vulnerable people falling victim to substance misuse must include consideration of issues such as deprivation, trauma, poor mental ill health, and adverse childhood experiences. The support networks and services that were once available to help families have been eroded over the past decade. Ms Wiseman highlighted the need for primary prevention measures, providing services to vulnerable children and families and to break the intergenerational cycle of substance misuse.83 The JCDU and DHSC agreed that there needed to be a “whole of society” response as the issues went beyond what could be funded by the strategy. Such a response needs to consider wider factors, focusing on prevention and recognising the importance of education, housing and employment to help stop people from using drugs.84 74 Q 115; C&AG’s Report, para 1.3 75 Committee of Public Accounts, Alcohol treatment services, Fifty-Fourth Report of Session 2022–23, 24 May 2023, para 6 76 Qq 100, 115 77 C&AG’s Report, para 10 78 Q 15 79 Q 115 80 Qq 13, 19 81 Q 67 82 Q 69; C&AG’s Report, Figure 9 83 Q 12 84 Q 115 16 Reducing the harm from illegal drugs
Government Response Summary
The government agreed, committing to continue investing in primary prevention activities such as compulsory drug education in schools, research into drug use drivers, supporting vulnerable families via family hubs, developing prevention guides for local partnerships, and delivering a cross-government innovation fund.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2025 6.2 The Drug Strategy highlighted the need to build the evidence in the initial phase to support the government’s thinking on what more can be done to reduce the demand for illegal drugs over the longer-term. Alongside this, the government has and will continue to invest in a range of activities both that are specific to drugs, and which take a broader focus but support the ambition to reduce demand. This includes: • ensuring drug education is compulsory as part of the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum in state-funded schools; • primary research exploring the drivers of drug use in young people; • secondary research on how best to reduce recreational drug use amongst adults; • supporting vulnerable children and families with their holistic needs, including through family hubs; and • developing a guide for local Combating Drugs Partnerships (CDP) setting out evidence-based approaches, interventions, and resources that can be employed to support the implementation of local prevention activity. This draws out the important role of the CDP in working with other linked areas, such as children’s services. 6.3 The government recognises there is more to do, and that this is for a range of departments. Work is underway to bring together the evidence to better understand what works to shift the dial on drug use. This includes: • delivering a new cross-government innovation fund to test and learn interventions; • exploring international approaches; • ongoing work led by DfE to evaluate the RSHE curriculum; • evaluation of CDP and wider projects and programmes across departments; and • advice on prevention commissioned from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. 6.4 Departments will continue to work together to develop the evidence base, reflect on the challenges and review where efforts can be best targeted to prevent use. This includes working with related strategies to assess where departments can join up further to achieve long-term sustainable change.