More than £2.8m to boost drug and alcohol treatment and recovery in Wigan

The Government has announced it has allocated more than £82m to 24 local authorities across the North West through to 2025 to offer a wide range of support.

Wigan Council will receive £1.1m in 2023-24 and a further £1.76m has been indicated for 2024-25.

The funding will enable local authorities to recruit more staff to work with people with drug and alcohol problems, support more prison leavers into treatment and recovery services, and invest in enhancing the quality of treatment they provide.

More people will benefit from residential rehabilitation or in-patient detoxification, while improvements to recovery services will sustain them outside treatment, helping to reduce relapse rates.

It is also hoped this will make the streets safer by getting people out of the addictions known to lead them to committing crimes.

The Government’s drug strategy, published in December 2021, set out its ambition to significantly increase the capacity of treatment and recovery services across the country.

It is estimated that over the first three years of the strategy, the additional investment in treatment and recovery will prevent nearly 1,000 drug-related deaths and reverse the upward trend in drug deaths for the first time in a decade.

The strategy also set out that illegal drugs drive half of all homicides, while nearly half of all burglaries, robberies and other acquisitive crimes are linked to heroin and crack addiction.

Health minister Neil O’Brien said: “This funding will help improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol recovery services right across the country, helping more people access the support they need, saving lives and benefitting communities.”

Funding is prioritised for areas with the highest need, based on the rate of drug deaths, deprivation, opiate and crack cocaine prevalence and crime, taking into account the size of the treatment population.

Treatment will be available for people taking a wide range of substances, including powder cocaine, ecstasy, prescription drugs and cannabis.

The announcement comes just a week after news that people receiving treatment for drug and alcohol addiction in Wigan will be provided with extra support with a roof over their heads thanks to more than £1m in Government funding.