National media release: 10 January 2008
The National Treatment Agency (NTA) welcomes the Government’s continued commitment to substantial investment in drug treatment, with Pooled Drug Treatment Budget (PTB) funding for drug treatment in 2008/9 being maintained at the 2007/08 record level of £398m. This, combined with local efficiency savings of £50m a year by 2010/11 means that the improvements made in the quality and availability of drug treatment over the past 10 years can be enhanced further.
Changes to the way funding is allocated to local drug action partnerships will mean that over the coming years the variations in spending per person in treatment will continue to narrow.
Funding will be redirected from partnerships who have historically received a higher than average share per person in treatment of the national PTB allocation, towards those who have received a lower than average allocation.
These changes, building on the record increase in funding in recent years, will mean drug treatment will continue to improve and funding will be targeted where it is most needed.
Sixty per cent of partnerships will receive the same or more money than before to deliver their treatment plans. The maximum reduction in funding for some partnerships will not be more than six per cent this year and the NTA is already actively engaged with this small number of Partnerships to ensure that they are able to make the necessary changes to expand provision and improve quality in a way that matches local needs.
NTA chief executive, Paul Hayes, commented:
“We have seen substantial year on year increases in drug treatment funding over the past seven years and unprecedented annual increases in resources.
“The Government’s commitment to maintain funding at these record levels means that by becoming more efficient at delivering the best outcomes for individuals we will be able to continue to increase the number of people into treatment, while increasing treatment effectiveness. This not only benefits individuals, but the wider community also.
“This revised formula for allocations, part of a process begun in 2007/08, provides sufficient resources to those partnerships who have historically received lower levels of funding per person treated to enable them to deliver their treatment plans, whilst also providing a realistic timescale for those areas receiving less to make more efficient use of the resources available to them.”
The total PTB allocation for England will remain at £398m in 2008/9, the same amount made available in 2007/8. Current plans are for this amount to continue each year to 2010/11 by which time funding will be equitable and the drug treatment sector will have had time to plan for the new system of allocations.
Funding received by partnerships will largely depend upon the number of individuals in the area in effective treatment in the year – those who complete or are retained in treatment for 12 weeks or more – but other factors will be taken into consideration, including: the number of crack and/or opiate users being treated; the complexity of local caseloads; and the varying costs involved in providing treatment in different areas of the country.
The 2008/9 PTB revenue funding will be allocated direct to PCTs as one sum of money and this will make it much easier for Partnerships to allocate and administer their budgets.
Notes to editors:
The NTA is a special health authority, established by Government in 2001. The Agency aims to increase the availability, capacity and effectiveness for substance misuse treatment in England and advise the Department of Health on how the Pooled Treatment Budget for drug treatment should be allocated.
In 2008/09 £373m of the funding will be allocated directly to the PCTs. A further £24.7m will be used for young people’s treatment. Further details on how this will be allocated will follow from the Department of Health shortly.
Supporting information including area allocations of PTB is available on the NTA website at www.nta.nhs.uk
Local drugs and crime partnerships (also known as drug action teams or DATs) are responsible for identifying local needs and using central government and locally resourced funding to commission or purchase drug treatment to meet those needs. There are 149 such partnerships in England (one for every local authority area). They are consortia of local partners involved in the delivery of the Government’s drugs strategy, including primary care trusts, police, probation, prison service and local authorities. The NTA is responsible for monitoring, advising and performance managing how partnerships spend their funding on treatment.
For further information, please contact:
Yvonne Lloyd, NTA Senior Communications Officer, Tel 020 7261 8635
Email: yvonne.lloyd@nta-nhs.org.uk
www.nta.nhs.uk
