Agenda item

The Health and Adult Social Care Policy and Scrutiny Committee is asked to comment on the York Local Plan of Action for Drugs and Alcohol in York.

Members considered a report that highlighted the Local Plan of Action for Drugs and Alcohol in York.

The Consultant in Public Health set out the background to the report, where it was noted that the York Drug and Alcohol Partnership, established in 2022, had created a live and evolving local plan of action, which was aligned to the national strategy.

The action plan was presented to Members at the meeting and was attached as a supplement to the published agenda. The presentation provided an action plan overview and informed Members of:

·      The scale of the challenge;

·      The 10-year ambition;

·      The plans to break drug supply chains;

·     How treatment and recovery systems would be delivered;

·     How a generational shift in the demand for drugs would be achieved.

During discussion of the item, and in answer to questions raised, officers stated that:

·     Hospital admissions data for alcohol related issues was recorded through several categories. The data received was specifically linked to York residents. In addition, the Integrated Care Board (ICB) would be considering trends linked to age and ward areas.

·     There were various funding streams available to support the outcomes and these were regularly reviewed by the Drug and Alcohol Partnership.

·     Increased referrals into treatment would be incorporated to support a national initiative to intervene, protect, divert and support individuals to not fall into the criminal justice system.

·     Operation Chill had been designed to enhance relationships between the police and young people. It looked to identify young people who may be subject to a criminal environment to enable the police and partners to intervene at an early stage.

·     The York Drug and Alcohol Service had recently been rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and the service would be supported to meet the growth in capacity to keep officer caseloads at a manageable level.

·     York in Recovery was a peer-support, and peer led recovery group. The charity provided an exceptional service and offered a safe space, activities, and connections for members of the York Community who were in recovery.

·     The overall effectiveness of the service was evaluated through a set of standard national measures. These measures were considered by officers on a quarterly basis. Statistics were also available on the public health data collection fingertips website https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/.

·     Breaking drug supply chains and achieving generational shift in the demand for drugs would be evaluated through a new set of metrics issued by the government, and any smaller projects or initiatives would also be assessed.

Members noted the evidence base solutions for treatment, intervention, and prevention. They understood that funding constraints would be a challenge to achieve a world-class treatment and recovery system but welcomed the strong working partnerships already attained to deliver an exceptional service.

Members thanked officers for their report and

Resolved:

(i)           That the update on the Local Plan of Action for Drugs and Alcohol in York be noted.

(ii)         That the report be shared with the Chairs of the council’s scrutiny committees, particularly Children, Education and Communities Policy and Scrutiny Committee and Housing and Community Safety Policy and Scrutiny Committee.

Reason: Scrutiny members’ comments would help shape this emerging action plan and strengthen the actions and work on reducing the harm caused by drugs and alcohol in the city.