County Durham's multi-million boost for drug and alcohol support

The new funding has been assigned to fund initiatives aimed at tackling addiction and cutting crime.

Durham County Council and Darlington Council received the investment from the Department of Health and Social Care, which will allow them to recruit more staff to help people dealing with addiction, give recovery support to prison leavers and invest in enhancing the quality of treatment.

Around £7.2m will be invested in County Durham, with a further £1.5m for Darlington.

Ministers say the extra cash will prevent nearly 1,000 drug-related deaths, based on estimates from the Government’s drugs strategy.

The work is expected to take place across the next two years, with funding spread out based on need.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (right) with Secretary of State for Health Steve Barclay (3rd-left) and NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard (2nd-left) during their tour of University Hospital of North Tees (Image: PA)

Darlington’s MP, Peter Gibson, said: “The funding announced today builds on existing work already being done here in Darlington. This additional funding will help support more investment in local services, which will help break the cycle of addiction, support communities and will drive down crime, preventing addiction at an earlier stage.”

Health Secretary Steve Barclay added: “Drug misuse has a massive cost to society – more than 3,000 people died as a result of drug misuse in 2021.

“This investment in treatment and recovery services is crucial to provide people with high-quality support, with services such as expanding access to life-saving overdose medicines and outreach to young people at risk of drug misuse already helping to reduce harm and improve recovery.

“This funding will help us build a much-improved treatment and recovery service which will continue to save lives, improve the health and wellbeing of people across the country, and reduce pressure on the NHS by diverting people from addiction into recovery.”

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Councils welcomed the extra cash but warned that more clarity was needed about other funding for public health services.

Councillor David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board, said: “This additional funding is important in helping to support councils to address drug and alcohol dependency and will make a real difference to transforming the lives of those who need it in our communities.

 “However, councils’ allocations for the local public health grant from April, which also goes to fund local addiction support services, has still yet to be announced – leaving the future of many vital services in doubt.”