"Reduction in harm caused by problem drug use
presents a complex and chronic challenge. This is being addressed
by a series of strategies and programmes and very substantial
resources: £1.2 billion a year. It is achieving improved
results but we need to learn from experience as we go forward and
measure effectiveness and value for money in order to make
appropriate adjustments to programmes. So overall performance
measurement across the range of programmes needs to be put in
place."
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 4 March
2010
A report by the NAO into government action to
tackle problem drug use has concluded that there has been good
progress in a number of areas, including an increasing number of
problem drug users in effective treatment and an increasing number
leaving treatment free from dependency. Without an evaluative
framework for the Strategy as a whole, the NAO is not able to
conclude positively on value for money. Nevertheless, the NAO note
that the Drug Treatment Outcomes Research Study (DTORS) has
estimated the benefit-cost ratio for drug treatment, the largest
element of spending, at 2.5 to 1 and that the programme has
delivered some significant successes.
In 2008, the Government introduced a new
10-year Drug Strategy, in succession to the 1998-2008 strategy. It
is spending £1.2 billion in 2009-10 with the objective of bringing
down the estimated costs to society of problem drug use of £15
billion a year. There is no framework in place for evaluating the
achievements of the 2008 Strategy which limits Departments'
understanding of the overall value for money achieved. A framework
for evaluation could draw on the existing individual evaluations of
measures in the Strategy and would help assess whether funding is
being optimally directed at different strategic objectives.
There are an estimated third of a million
problem drug users in England. As part of an increased emphasis on
drug treatment, funding rose from £481m in 2004-05 to £581m in
2008-09. There has been progress: over that period, the number of
adults in effective treatment increased from 134,000 to 195,000 and
the number of problem drug users completing their treatment free
from dependency rose from 6,000 to 15,000.
The Home Office established a Drug
Interventions Programme in 2003 to prioritise access to drug
treatment for problem drug using offenders aimed at reducing their
offending. Research indicates drug treatment can help reduce
drug related crimes. The DTORS study estimated that the
average cost of crimes committed per drug user fell from
approximately £50,000 per year for those who did not enter
structured drug treatment to approximately £40,000 per year for
those who did enter structured drug treatment.
Actions to help drug users re-establish their
lives have had limited results. Around 80 per cent of problem
drug users claim benefits at a cost over £40 million a year. A £13
million a year initiative to get drug users into work has not been
successful. Over the period 2006-07 to 2008-09, around 12,500
people a year entered the programme. But the proportion who kept a
job for 13 weeks or more has stayed constant at around 8 per cent,
costing £11,600 for each drug user who kept a job. In 2008-09,
local authorities spent £30 million on services to help get drug
users into suitable accommodation, but there is currently no UK
research on the efficacy of measures aimed at putting problem drug
users into appropriate accommodation.
Publication details:
HC: 297, 2009-10
ISBN: 9780102963557