Oral Answers to Questions

Jeff Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 10th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend, who has a lot of experience of working in the NHS, is absolutely right. The new Care Quality Commission inspection regime is designed precisely to identify good, strong leadership, because that has the best impact on staff and, through that, the best impact on patients.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

9. What assessment he has made of the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on the level of funding for drug treatment services.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Steve Brine)]

We thank the ACMD for its report, and we take its advice seriously. Discussions will happen across Government, and we will respond fully in due course in the usual way.

[Jeff Smith]

The ACMD says:

“England had built a world class drug treatment system… This system is now being dismantled due to reductions in resources.”

More than 100 local authorities have had to reduce spending on addiction services this year as a result of Government cuts. Will that reduction in addiction treatment budgets not just cost the NHS more in the long term?

[Steve Brine]

The Government are already investing £16 billion in public health services over the spending review period. We made it a condition of the public health grant that local authorities have regard to the need to improve the take-up and outcomes of their drug and alcohol services. Local authorities are best placed to make those decisions. The investment in effective services means that the average waiting time is just three days and, according to our monitoring systems, treatment outcomes in Greater Manchester are generally better than or in line with the rest of England.