ALCOHOL SERVICES ARE OWED MONEY SAYS PRESSURE GROUP

Alcohol Concern is challenging Primary Care Trusts to account for the extra funds they received to improve alcohol services in their area. Public Health Minister, Caroline Flint announced last year that Gbp 15 million was earmarked to help PCTs improve the commissioning and delivery of alcohol treatment services but there is growing evidence that some PCTs have not yet assigned the money.

ALCOHOL CONCERN PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release

ALCOHOL SERVICES ARE OWED MONEY SAYS PRESSURE GROUP


Alcohol Concern is challenging Primary Care Trusts to account for the extra funds they received to improve alcohol services in their area. Public Health Minister, Caroline Flint announced last year that Gbp 15 million was earmarked to help PCTs improve the commissioning and delivery of alcohol treatment services but there is growing evidence that some PCTs have not yet assigned the money.

With no national targets to reduce alcohol misuse, treatment providers are are concerned that the money will be lost in the general scramble to plug widespread deficits or fund other programmes. To help services bid for this new money Alcohol Concern has released details of the sum that each PCT will have been given by the Department of Health for the coming year (see notes).

Don Shenker, Director of Policy and Services for Alcohol Concern says:
This is further evidence of the need for Government to set aside ring fenced money for alcohol treatment, like it does for drugs. Until then, alcohol services will always be treated as the poor relation to drugs treatment and may well miss out on other new health funding initiatives. In a situation where 17 out of 18 people who need treatment arent able to receive it, this cant continue.

While some PCTs are using these funds to reduce alcohol harms, every penny counts and we hope that all PCTs will spend this money on the vital work for which it was intended.

Mike Webb, an Alcohol Lead for the Hampshire PCT area says:
The Drug Pool Treatment Budget is ring fenced and cannot be used for clients with a primary alcohol misuse problem. With this new funding available, a lot more could be done to support those with alcohol misuse problems and to enable them to access treatment in a more timely manor. We would welcome working in partnership with the local PCT in order to make a real difference to local issues, that we both face, in this field.

Mark Sanger, Community Safety Manager for the London Borough of Enfield says:
It is disappointing that the new money hasn't been ringfenced, as this means some PCTs will find it difficult to prioritise using it for alcohol interventions. Unfortunately, this is the case in Enfield, despite a strong local partnership on alcohol harm reduction. We would like to see the Department of Health put pressure on PCTs to use the funding for alcohol interventions.
ENDS

For press enquiries please contact Frank Soodeen at the Alcohol Concern Press Office on 0207 395 4003 or the out of hours mobile on 07866063013.

Notes to editors
Table A shows the sums allocated to each PCT in England. The money (15m) earmarked for alcohol interventions this year represents 0.25% of the 2007/2008 revenue uplift.

Table A
PCT Alcohol Interventions Allocation 07/08
Ashton, Leigh and Wigan 33,338
Barking and Dagenham 65,838
Barnet 86,775
Barnsley 83,988
Bassetlaw 36,518
Bath and North East Somerset 45,495
Bedfordshire 124,752
Berkshire West 109133
Bexhill and Rother 23,488
Bexley 58,108
Birmingham East and North 137,985
Blackburn with Darwen 48,613
Blackpool 46,930
Bolton 82,950
Bournemouth and Poole 91,071
Bradford & Airedale 146,312
Brent Teaching 83,090
Brighton and Hove City 80,648
Bristol 110,510
Bromley 76,110
Buckinghamshire 121,612
Bury 52,938
Calderdale 51,938
Cambridgeshire 157,102
Camden 75,160
Central & Eastern Cheshire 120,767
City and Hackney Teaching 89,413
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 163.177
Central Lancashire 130,927
County Durham 180,840
Croydon 86,513
Cumbria 177,852
Darlington 27,798
Derby City 79,152
Derbyshire County 204,632
Devon 213,270
Doncaster 187,475
Dorset 112,741
Dudley 84,197
Ealing 90,645
Eastern and Coastal Kent 239,822
East Lancashire 114,500
East & North Hertfordshire 147,886
East Riding of Yorkshire 86,162
East Sussex Downs & Weald 92,837
Enfield 81,690
Gateshead 66,573
Gloucestershire 153,842
Great Yarmouth & Waverney 84,317
Greenwich Teaching 69,368
Hammersmith and Fulham 53,100
Halton & St. Helens 98, 697
Hampshire 319,620
Haringey Teaching 72,165
Harrow 52,023
Hartlepool 30,845
Hastings & Rother 54,902
Havering 70,028
Heart of Birmingham Teaching 109,243
Herefordshire 59,135
Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale 69,062
Hillingdon 62,820
Hounslow 60,813
Hull 75,390
Isle of Wight 48,578
Islington 67,463
Kensington and Chelsea 56,093
Kingston 41,278
Kirklees 106,048
Knowsley 63,308
Lambeth 93,593
Leeds 200,857
Leicester City 95,042
Leicestershire County & Rutland 167,697
Lewisham 79,620
Lincolnshire 233,405
Luton 61,590
Manchester 198,587
Medway 91,000
Mid-Essex 100,597
Milton Keynes 77,190
Newcastle 77,435
Newham 97,168
North East Essex 103,242
North East Lincolnshire 46,855
Norfolk 231,285
North Lancashire 142,972
North Lincolnshire 46,328
North Somerset 65,565
North Staffordshire 56,820
North Tees 64,215
North Tyneside 62,960
North Yorkshire and York 193,402
Northumberland 88,720
Nottingham City 87,278
Nottinghamshire County 183,315
Oldham 71,110
Oxfordshire 128,894
Peterborough 65,633
Plymouth Teaching 69,978
Portsmouth City Teaching 54,260
Redcar and Cleveland 90,551
Redbridge 62,485
Richmond and Twickenham 45,670
Rotherham 76,975
Salford 69,500
Sandwell 98,678
Sefton 86,838
Sheffield 155,051
Shropshire County 80,345
Solihull 56,050
Somerset 159349
South Birmingham 108,675
South Gloucestershire 62,505
Southwark 80,445
South West Essex 131,510
Stoke on Trent 80,871
Stockport 73,708
Suffolk 169,145
Sunderland Teaching 89,318
Surrey 251,667
Sutton and Merton 93,720
Swindon 50,325
Tameside and Glossop 71,793
Telford and Wrekin 54,283
Torbay 54,273
Tower Hamlets 88,618
Trafford 60,233
Wakefield District 111,595
Walsall Teaching 79,673
Waltham Forest 66,323
Wandsworth 79,030
Warrington 54,868
Warwickshire 260,003
West Essex 67,062
West Hertfordshire 131,427
West Kent 174,485
Westminster 74,683
West Sussex 203,925
Wiltshire 121,918
Wolverhampton City 84,685

Alcohol Concern is the national agency working to reduce alcohol related harm in society. We work to reduce the incidence and costs of alcohol-related harm and to increase the range and quality of alcohol services available to problem drinkers and their families.

Date: 13 April 2007