Report:  Havering Combating Substance Misuse Strategy 2024- 2029

Presented by: Councillor Gillian Ford, Cabinet Member for Adults & Wellbeing

Cabinet:

Approved and adopted the Havering Combating Substance Misuse Strategy 2024-2029

Report:  Havering Combating Substance Misuse Strategy 2024- 2029

Presented by: Councillor Gillian Ford, Cabinet Member for Adults & Wellbeing

Cllr Ford thanked the officers for their work drafting this strategy. It was confirmed that the funding has been ring-fenced within the Public Health fund.

Summary:

A final draft of the Havering Substance Misuse Strategy 2023 has been completed and is now ready for approval. This strategy was produced jointly with all key stakeholders and has been produced in response to the national strategy and to replace the existing local strategy which expired in 2019.

Havering had a similar strategy called the “Drug and Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy 2016-19,” the revision of which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, a new 10- year national drugs strategy called ‘From Harm to Hope: A 10-year Drugs Plan to Cut Crime and Save Lives’ was published by the government in December 2021. The national strategy was accompanied by a three-year supplementary grant to increase capacity in the local treatment system. The grant requires local partnerships to produce a new strategy. Thus Havering Combating Drugs Partnership (“CDP”) drafted this strategy in response to the national drugs strategy thereby renewing the previous Havering strategy.

Our strategy covers all substances which have the potential for abuse and addiction, except tobacco. It treats addiction as a chronic (long-term) health condition and requires all relevant local agencies to work together to provide effective long-term support. It aims to tackle the stigma around addiction to encourage individuals and families who are affected to get support, and to minimise community violence towards those with substance-misuse problems.

The draft strategy describes some key findings from the needs assessment; for example, it is estimated that 1 in 5 adults (around 41,000 people) in Havering drink excessive amount of alcohol and 14,000 16 to 74-year-olds use illicit drugs. Two workshops with local and regional partners and people with lived experience followed by direct communication with delivery partners informed the set of actions in the strategy.

Substance misuse and addiction affect more than just the person with dependency problems – they can affect the family and wider community in many ways. Substance misuse can lead to criminal behaviour including domestic violence, assaults, antisocial behaviour, theft and burglaries, sexual exploitation, slavery and gang violence. This is why the partners in Havering will work together to:

·        break drug supply chains;

·        deliver a world-class treatment and recovery system;

·        achieve a generational shift in the demand for drugs; and

·        reduce risk and harm to individuals, families and communities.

A plan to address these four key areas was developed through working with all key stakeholders such as the National Health Service (NHS), drug and alcohol treatment services, voluntary care sector, schools, Police, trading standards, licensing, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), children services, adult services etc. To achieve our intended outcomes of reducing drug use and drug-related crime, harm and deaths, Havering CDP will monitor progress using the national and local outcome frameworks.

This strategy will be implemented over a five-year period commencing from the date of publication and will be reviewed at least annually by the Havering Combating Drugs Partnership and amendments made where necessary. Feedback from the consultation and engagement with service users has been incorporated into the final draft and the Equality Health Impact Assessment report is also included. Havering Combating Drugs Partnership has signed off the final draft and allowed submission for approval by Cabinet. The draft strategy has also been presented at the Health and Wellbeing Board and Place-based Partnership meetings and adopted.

Cabinet:

Approved and adopted the Havering Combating Substance Misuse Strategy 2024-2029