Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle trends in the level of ketamine abuse among young people.

The Department takes seriously the threat ketamine use poses to young people. Local authorities are responsible for providing drug treatment services based on the needs of their local populations, and this includes services to support ketamine users. In addition to the Public Health Grant, in 2025/26 the Department is providing a total of £310 million in additional targeted grants to improve drug and alcohol services and wider recovery support, including housing and employment.

Local authorities, Combating Drugs Partnerships, and treatment providers lead on prevention, harm reduction, and treatment interventions, which includes awareness raising. Widespread action is already in progress through local and regional initiatives. Many of the national treatment providers, as well as local areas, have developed bespoke awareness-raising resources and approaches in response to ketamine, and a number have held events for professionals working in the field. In addition to this, the Department recently cascaded a briefing to local authorities and treatment systems on data on ketamine use and guidance on prevention, harm reduction, and treatment interventions. Department of Health and Social Care and Home Office ministers have written to festival organisers, asking them to work closely with police and health partners on their harm reduction and first aid measures, which includes highlighting the dangers of ketamine. The Department has also worked with the National Police Chiefs’ Council on a joint letter and advice for the police and local authorities about festivals, drugs, and alcohol, to minimise the risk of harm to individuals at these events.

Statutory guidance on relationships, sex, and health education requires all primary and secondary schools to ensure that pupils know the key facts and risks associated with drug use, as well as how to manage influences and pressure, and keep themselves healthy and safe. The Department has worked with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education Association to develop the lesson plans on drugs and alcohol and commissioned an update of the resources, which was published at the end of last year. The Government has a drug information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce drug misuse and its harms by increasing awareness, particularly for young people and parents. Talk to FRANK offers easy to read information on the risks of using ketamine, including bladder problems, and mixing it with other substances, as well as basic harm reduction advice.

As a result of additional funding, and in response to increased prevalence, the treatment system is responding, and the proportion of children and young people under the age of 18 years old accessing help in relation to ketamine has increased from under 1% in 2015/16 to 9% in November 2024.