Council leaders have called for ‘urgent clarity’ on how addiction services will be funded after the figures reveal a rise in number of people seeking help.
The latest figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities show there were 289,215 adults in contact with drug and alcohol services between April 2021 and March 2022.
This is a rise compared to the previous year which saw 275,896 accessing the services.
Responding to the figures, Cllr David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Community Wellbeing Board, said that councils needed clarity on how ‘vital addiction support services’ would be funded in the future.
‘This data shows more people have come forward for council commissioned drug and alcohol treatment, which is helping transform the lives of the people who need them the most,’ he said.
‘These vital addiction support services are funded by councils’ public health grant, which has seen reductions of around £1bn since 2015. Councils now need urgent clarity about how this work will be funded in the future.
‘The Government should commit to a long term increase to the public health grant so people can get the best support possible in overcoming addiction.’
