Merseyside councils will receive significant funding from the Government to rebuild the drug treatment and recovery system.
All councils in Merseyside will get significantly more funding to enhance their drug and alcohol treatment services as part of the Government's £780m investment. All local authorities in England will receive additional funding with the 50 most deprived areas in England set to receive significantly more.
The funding was announced last week as part of the Government's 10-year strategy to tackle drug crime, boost treatment and 'level up' the country.
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Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid announced the 50 most deprived local authorities will start to receive the extra funding between 2022 and 2023. The funding is hoped to help reverse the trend in drug use in the most vulnerable and poorest communities.
Mr Javid said: "This is a significant step in our commitment to rebuild the drug treatment system, save lives and level up the country. We’re investing a record amount in treatment services and ensuring some of the most deprived areas in England are first in line for this funding, to support the most vulnerable by cutting drug use.
"Treatment is just one element of our far-reaching strategy to better rehabilitate drug users – whether it’s helping people get jobs, creating a stable home or cracking down on supply."
Carol Black, who advised the Government's 10-year strategy into drugs, said: "It is encouraging that on top of the additional funding for all local authorities, the 50 authorities most in need will be given further money to support their treatment programmes. This is crucial to rebuilding the treatment and recovery workforce and enable harm caused by drug misuse in our most deprived areas to be reduced."
Councils in the Liverpool City Region will receive around £6.7m of government funding. Liverpool will get £2.4m of support while Wirral will receive £1.4m. Sefton will receive around £1m, St Helens £640,000, Knowsley £500,000 and Halton around £330,000.
The additional funding has been welcomed by local drug and alcohol services who said the funding "has the potential to make a huge difference to people's lives".
Jon Murray, Director of Services at With You, a charity with a number of offices in Liverpool, told the ECHO : "The rate of drug-related deaths remains at crisis levels and each death sends ripples through families and communities, with the impact continuing to be felt years down the line. It's important to remember that problematic drug use is often a reaction to people’s surroundings.
"Each area faces their own distinct and complex challenges but what we can already say is further funding could be used to increase the number of people who can access treatment, contribute to wider provision of Naloxone as well as improving workforce skills. We welcome the serious political commitment to investing in treatment and look forward to working collaboratively to address these complex issues, with the compassion and support people deserve."
