Luton council's drug and alcohol treatment budget slashed as related deaths rise, figures show

Luton Borough Council has cut drug and alcohol budgets by £1.9 million in a decade, according to research by treatment experts.

The UK Addiction Treatment Group (UKAT) has analysed new data released by local Governments that show how much of the 2023/24 Public Health Grant is forecast to be spent on substance misuse treatment services. UKAT experts have urged Luton Borough Council (LBC) to reassess their new budgets.

UKAT’s analysis shows that in 2013/14, ten years ago, LBC allocated £5.5 million towards drug and alcohol treatment services in the community. But this year, just £3.6 million was set aside to tackle the problem. The group says this is a “ten-year real terms budget cut of £1.9 million - or 34 per cent.”

But the council said: “Over the past 10 years the service has focused spending on helping people and reducing reduced overheads by changing from multiple partners to one provider. We are spending £4,701,330 this year (2023/24) including rehab/detox, and the additional Supplemental Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery Grant.”

UKAT’s found in Luton there were five drug poisoning deaths in 2011, ten years later, this figure has risen by 320 per cent to 21.

A spokesperson for LBC said: “Any drug-related death is one too many so we are working to reduce drug-related deaths by for example expanding the provision of naloxone, a medicine that rapidly reverses an overdose. It is however, worth noting that the rate of deaths related to drug poisoning in Luton is below the England rate (7.0 per 100,000 population for Luton compared to 7.9 per 100,000 population in England for 2019-2021).

“Years of austerity since 2010 have impacted public spending nationally and locally while Luton Council faced further financial losses across the board during COVID. In addition, Luton’s population increased by 11 per cent between 2011 and 2021 to 225,300 people compared to a national growth rate of 6 per cent.

“Luton council and the commissioned Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery provider (CGL - ResoLUTiONs), continue to work tirelessly to provide drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services to all of Luton’s residents in need. We are currently helping 1,200 people in treatment and we are eager to help more people."

They continued: "We are not avoiding treatment in Rehab. We provide a robust support package for clients ensuring this is considered as part of the treatment journey from day one. Rehab however is not the only answer as we also have need to support people with long-term addiction issues who relapse and those who do not require rehab facilities.

“We are working to implement the Government’s 10-year drug strategy, with a focus on prevention, early intervention and more people in structured treatment and with access to rehab and detox.

"We are also working to reduce the stigma of accessing treatment and encouraging all communities in Luton to engage with our services. There are also volunteering opportunities that any Luton resident can get involved with and we welcome your support in sharing this message.”

Nuno Albuquerque, UKAT‘s head of treatment, said: “It cannot be a coincidence that as spending on treatment services drops off, more and more people develop an addiction and need help.”