The NTA was created as a Special Health Authority in 2001 to improve the availability, capacity and effectiveness of drug treatment in England. The NTA ensures that treatment services in England deliver on both the public health and criminal justice agendas, reflecting the interests of the Department of Health (DH), responsible for funding the NHS as well as public health services, and the Home Office, the lead Whitehall department on drugs policy and crime reduction.

The NTA allocates central funding, provide support and guidance to local areas, and measure outcomes to ensure value for money.

When it published the NHS white paper (July 2010), the Government announced that as part of these changes the NTA's will be abolished as a separate organisation and its critical functions will be transferred to a new national service, Public Health England (PHE).

The Drugs Strategy (December 2010) and Healthy Lives, Healthy People (November 2010) set out a new vision of a locally-led, recovery oriented system, under which most drugs and alcohol services will in future be commissioned by local authorities through Directors of Public Health, supported by Health & Wellbeing Boards.

The Drugs Strategy set out clear aims to support recovery, encapsulated in three overarching principles – wellbeing, citizenship and freedom from dependence. It also aimed to reduce the use of illicit and other harmful drugs.

The Department of Health is now taking forward the transition to PHE, under which services will in future be commissioned by local authorities through Directors of Public Health, supported by Health & Wellbeing Boards.

During the interim period the NTA will drive the transformation from a 'treatment system' to a 'recovery system' to provide a solid foundation on which PHE can build.