Agenda item

Attending for this item:

Cllr Karen May, Cabinet Member with Responsibility (CMR) for Health and Wellbeing

Liz Altay, Interim Director of Public Health

Paul Kinsella, Senior Public Health Practitioner

Andy Boote, Senior Public Health Practitioner

Superintendent Paul Judge

Superintendent Mel Paley 

Claire Richardson, Head of Policy and Development for the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner

Matt Burke, Cranstoun

The CMR for Health and Wellbeing introduced the Worcestershire Drugs and Alcohol Strategy Report and explained that under the Health and Social Care Act (2012), local authorities had a duty to reduce health inequalities and improve the health of their local population by ensuring that there were public health services aimed at reducing drug and alcohol misuse. Improving outcomes from Drug and Alcohol treatment services was a requirement of the PHRFG.

The Interim Director of Public Health explained that during 2021, Dame Carol Black was commissioned by the Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to undertake a two-part independent review of drugs, to inform the government’s thinking on what more could be done to tackle the harms that drugs cause. The report outlined key themes for improvement, including increasing access to treatment and recovery services.

The Government accepted the findings of the review and in 2021 published ‘From Harm to Hope’ a 10-year plan to cut crime and save lives by reducing the supply and demand for drugs and delivering a high-quality treatment and recovery system.

To support the delivery of ‘From Harm to Hope’ the development of new local ‘Combating Drugs Partnerships’ (CDP) were mandated. These partnerships brought together local stakeholders to better understand their populations and identify challenges and solutions. CDP’s were accountable for delivering the outcomes in the National Outcomes Framework. The West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner was the named Senior Responsible Officer for Worcestershire.

Accordingly, a Worcestershire Drug and Alcohol Strategy was co-produced by members of the Substance Misuse Oversight Group (SMOG) and was supported by Public Health. The new strategy was aligned with ‘From Harm to Hope’ and was reflective of local priorities and governance arrangements.

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

·         In response to a Member question about where in the Strategy alcohol prevention work was included, the Senior Public Health Practitioner advised that in November 2022, a 2-year service level agreement was set up with Trading Standards to target illicit sales of alcohol, tobacco and vapes, acting on local intelligence from schools and hospital admissions, for example.

·         The Public Health Team were also working with retailers to ensure that there were responsible premises and to encourage them for example to use challenge 25 (the retailing strategy that encourages anyone who was over 18 but looked under 25 to carry acceptable ID if they wished to buy alcohol). The Police also run a MATES: Multi Agency Targeted Enforcement Strategy, which allowed the police to tackle organised criminality, anti-social behaviour and the sale of illegal products.

·         In terms of Illicit counterfeit alcohol, there was a robust process in place which was triggered in response to intelligence received.

·         A Member questioned in terms of drugs misuse; the number of people who reoffended or were like to reoffend after they had been given support from Cranstoun. In response, it was explained that it was a complex picture, not everyone accessing support would have committed an offence in the first place and some data was tracked locally and some was tracked nationally. Officers were also unsure of re-offending levels in respect of offenders who were released from prison. It was therefore agreed that consideration would be given to what data could be shared with the Board to demonstrate the outcomes and trends (including re-offending rates after accessing support) arising from the Strategy.

·         A Member questioned in relation to County Lines and vulnerable young people whether a recruited individual would be considered as a victim or offender. In response, it was explained that the Police would look at an offenders profile and although they may be breaking the law, they were also a victim. The Police did a lot of work around child exploitation and considered each case on a case by case basis. The Board was also reminded about Get Safe programme (the Worcestershire name for the multi-agency support and protection for children and young people at risk of Criminal Exploitation).

·         The Church Representative (for education matters) queried whether there were any plans to roll-out the prevention programme for vaping to primary age school children. In response, the Senior Public Health Practitioner advised that there was more to do tackle vaping in the younger age children, however, the Public Health Team worked with schools around the prevention work in respect of drugs and alcohol misuse.

·         A Member suggested that the Strategy should be a Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco Strategy. In response, the Interim Director of Public Health explained that there were separate plans relating to smoking cessation although not a specific strategy.

·         In response to a Member’s concern about how the Strategy supported victims and the vulnerable, the CMR explained that the Strategy was about having pathways that were clear and concise and each case was different and required a bespoke approach to support whilst recognising the needs of the victim.

·         A Member suggested that a programme which had worked well elsewhere was to provide information on how to access help in retailers where alcohol was sold.  It was suggested that his should be considered in Worcestershire.

·         A Member highlighted how the support provided by Cranstoun in Bromsgrove was working well, particularly the work around prevention which was key.

It was agreed that the Chairman would write to the CMR for Health and Wellbeing to highlight the main points from the Boards discussion.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance.