Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people of each gender over the age of 50 have been treated for (a) drug and (b) alcohol addiction in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The number of people of each gender over the age of 50 who have been in drug or alcohol treatment for the last five years can be accessed in the following link:
https://www.ndtms.net/Publications/AnnualReports.aspx
Source: National Drug Treatment Monitoring System
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department ensures that the delivery of drug and alcohol treatment by local authorities conforms to the NHS constitution.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Section 2 of the Health Act 2009 as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 requires local authorities to have regard to the National Health Service constitution in performing their health service functions which include the commissioning of services to treat dependence on drugs and alcohol.
Public Health England supports local authorities in their public health functions by providing a range of supportive guidance and materials, as well as bespoke data, value for money tools, topical briefings, and advice on good practice.
The Department distributes funding to local authorities through the Public Health Grant to carry out their public health functions. The grant conditions include a requirement for each local authority to have regard to the need to improve the take up of, and outcomes from, its drug and alcohol misuse treatment services. Local authorities are also required to report annual expenditure on drug and alcohol services.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2016 to Question 23621, which (a) charitable trusts and foundations, (b) institutional investors and (c) dedicated social impact funds have invested in drug and alcohol addiction.
Answered by Rob Wilson
There are a broad range of charitable trusts and foundations working in this area, including Action Against Addiction, Mind and the Lifeline Project. Institutional investors such as Big Society Capital and Bridges Ventures have a track record of investing in programmes focused upon tackling complex social problems of this type. We will be working closely with all of these stakeholders to ensure that the Life Chances Fund has a real impact in helping to tackle drug and alcohol addiction.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 11 January 2016, on life chances, what the sources of the £60 million of social investment for drug and alcohol treatment are expected to be.
Answered by Rob Wilson
The Government has actively supported the growth of the social investment market over the last five years. This includes through the establishment of Big Society Capital which is investing up to £600m in growing the social investment market, and the Social Investment Tax Relief which is incentivising individual investors to make social investments. Other social investors investing in social impact bonds include charitable trusts and foundations as well as institutional investors and dedicated social impact funds.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent on treatment for drug and alcohol addiction in (a) each year since 2010 and (b) each month of 2015.
Answered by Jane Ellison
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 January 2016 to Question 21900.
It is not possible to provide a breakdown of monthly spend on treatment for drug and alcohol addiction due to disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 11 January 2016, on life chances, what period the £30 million social investment outcomes fund will cover; when that funding will become available; and to which bodies that funding will be made available.
Answered by Rob Wilson
The Life Chances Fund is an £80m outcomes fund that will focus upon supporting the creation of locally developed social impact bonds tackling a range of social problems. In his speech, the Prime Minister announced that up to £30m of the Life Chances Fund would be made available to support drug and alcohol rehabilitation. The detailed criteria for the fund, including timescales, is being developed but it will provide a portion of outcome payments for locally commissioned social impact bonds where some of the benefits and savings generated fall to central government.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the funding criteria will be for the social investment outcomes fund; and whether NHS providers of alcohol and drug addiction services will be able to apply for that funding.
Answered by Rob Wilson
In the spending review the Chancellor announced £80m for a new social outcomes fund to support the creation of locally developed social impact bonds tackling a range of social problems. The Cabinet Office has responsibility for the fund. The detailed criteria for the fund is being developed, but it will provide a portion of outcome payments for locally commissioned social impact bonds where some of the benefits and savings generated fall to central government.
Asked by: Andrew Griffiths (Conservative - Burton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of children in (a) care and (b) need who have parents who misuse alcohol or drugs.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Department collects information on the number of children looked after by local authorities in England via the SSDA903 return. However data on the number of children looked after who have parents who misuse alcohol or drugs is not collected.
Figures are provided in the table below for assessments of children in need:
Number of assessments of children referred to social care where alcohol or drug misuse by the parent or carer was identified as a factor, year ending 31 March 2014
Factor identified1 | At initial assessments2 | At continuous assessments2 | |||
Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | ||
Total assessments completed at which factors were reported | 206,000 | . | 145,700 | . | |
Of which reported: | |||||
Alcohol misuse: Concerns about alcohol misuse by the parent/carer | 18,800 | 9.1 | 16,100 | 11.1 | |
Drug misuse: Concerns about alcohol misuse by the parent/carer | 15,300 | 7.4 | 13,800 | 9.5 | |
Source: Children in Need census
1. This data was reported for the first time in 2013/14 for initial and continuous assessments completed in the year. A child may have more than one assessment in the year and an assessment may have more than one factor recorded.
2. An initial assessment is a brief assessment and a continuous assessment is a more in depth assessment of a child’s needs where the child has been referred to children’s social care services with a request that services be provided.
This was the first year this data item was collected. Data was provided by around two thirds of local authorities so this information should be treated with caution.
Factor information is published within table A6 of the ‘Characteristics of children in need: 2013 to 2014’ statistical first release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/characteristics-of-children-in-need-2013-to-2014