Agenda item

Report of Director of Public Health

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Public Health which provided an update of all activity relating to reducing alcohol and drug harms in County Durham during 2021/22, an update on the refresh of The Alcohol and Drug Harm Reduction Group (ADHRG) Plan on a Page (POP) and elements of the Action Plan for 2022-23, and provided an update on plans for the Supplementary Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery Grant (SSMTR) (for copy see file of minutes).

Councillor Charlton thanked the Public Health Strategic Manager Living Well, Aging Well (LW,AW) for the detailed report and passed on her thanks for the warm welcome she had received when attending the recent drug and alcohol event.

Councillor Nicholls noted that licensing was a problem, particularly with sales to underage persons. He further noted the scale of off licenses in the County and asked if statistics were available to indicate the number of warnings given to each off license. The Public Health Strategic Manager (LW,AW) confirmed that this information could be obtained through the Consumer Protection Team.

Councillor Quinn referred to table 4 of the report and asked whether drugs other than opiates and crack could be included. The Public Health Strategic Manager (LW,AW) explained it was challenging to detail other drugs in the table due to polydrug abuse and drugs that were also prescribed as medication, but confirmed that the table presented the main themes. She explained that the Drug and Alcohol Recovery Service kept a record of all drugs taken.

Councillor Jopling thanked the Committee for inviting the members of the Adults, Wellbeing and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee. She referred to table 7 of the report and queried the correlation between homelessness and the use of drugs and alcohol. She emphasised the seriousness of this and asked what measures had been put in place for early intervention.

The Public Health Strategic Manager (LW,AW) advised that the group worked closely with the Housing Solutions Team and housing providers. She noted that the Dame Carol Black funding had enabled the group to expand on prevention and early intervention and that additional colleagues had been employed, one being a mental health nurse. She added that through the rough sleeping grant they had put in workers around domestic abuse and had put a specialist team in place who worked with the service provider, Harbour.

In response to a further question from Councillor Jopling regarding engagement with an individual and their family when suffering with mental health, The Public Health Strategic Manager (LW,AW) advised that they worked with the Mental Health Trust to provide support to individuals along with wrap around care for the families. She further advised that support could also be offered to families without the engagement of the individual and explained that this had opened the door for some individuals to engage themselves and were subsequently offered a wide variety of support. 

Councillor Jopling praised the fantastic work.

Mrs Paterson asked whether the Recovery Centre was located within the same building as Horden Together. The Public Health Strategic Manager (LW,AW) clarified that these were in separate buildings and explained that the Recovery Centre was previously used a resource centre.

Mrs Paterson commented on the 396 on sales premises and noted that there was a great deal of local intelligence in the voluntary and community sector that could provide help with data and background. She asked whether there were any future plans to work with organisations such as Al-Anon who provided support to families. The Public Health Strategic Manager (LW,AW) confirmed that they worked with a number of organisations that were not commissioned by Durham County Council as well as a range of charities. She further noted that they worked in partnership with community protection and believed that the level of local intelligence and the sharing of intelligence was high.

Councillor Sutton-Lloyd commented on the 24-hour availability of alcohol and questioned whether a stronger message needed to be given to Government regarding the extended hours granted for licenses. The Public Health Strategic Manager (LW,AW) advised that they worked in partnership with the council’s Consumer Protection Team and the Licensing Team and that Public Health sighted all licenses that were received and that these were monitored on a wider basis with Durham Constabulary.

Councillor Sutton-Lloyd believed that granting licenses for extended hours was a creeping problem and could be the cause of the issues and asked whether this should be considered. The Head of Community Protection Services noted that they had the power locally to make representations for all license applications submitted. She further noted that they regularly reviewed the policy for licensing and suggested that this could be reviewed again if members felt it was necessary. In terms of enforcement work she advised that a report had recently been submitted to cabinet and that it would be beneficial to share the report with the Committee.

Councillor Nicholls informed the Committee that the Police and Crime Commissioner had recently put in a bid for the Safer Streets fund which was targeted for Durham City and Darlington town centre to combat spiking. He advised that they will be informed of the outcome of this in the next quarter.

The Head of Community Protection Services advised that they had previously received funding from the Safer Streets fund and had utilised this to create a hub in the city centre which provided a refuge for young females whose safety was compromised. She commented that this had been a successful project and they did not want to lose the valuable service. She advised that the outcome for the next round of funding would be announced in September 2022.

Chief Superintendent A Simpson noted that the Safer Streets bid was not solely about spiking and included a whole range of measures to make town centres safer and protect vulnerable people.

Councillor Mavin expressed his frustration regarding the lack of response to the reporting of drugs in his area. Chief Superintendent A Simpson explained that it took a considerable amount of time to build up a package for a response and agreed to explain this in further detail to Councillor Mavin following the meeting.

Councillor Charlton agreed that it was frustrating not to receive feedback as it was uncertain if the issue had been addressed. Chief Superintendent A Simpson appreciated the importance of feedback and agreed that he would look into this.

Councillor Charlton asked what was in place to continue the good work if they did not receive the funding in the 2023/25 round. The Public Health Strategic Manager (LW,AW) advised that funding had been secured for a further two year period. She noted that it was a ten-year drug strategy but that it was difficult to predict what would happen with regards to funding after year three. She believed it was beneficial to apply and secure the funding and then to evaluate what worked well allowing them to build on this in the future and apply for the required funding from other sources if necessary. 

Councillor Charlton referred to the Public Perceptions Survey on page 22 of the report and asked how many people were targeted for the survey and the method for targeting. The Public Health Strategic Manager (LW,AW) confirmed that the survey was taken through an organisation called Balance, who were funded by seven Local Authorities. She was unsure how many people were involved in the survey but noted they were highly skilled and had a great client, patient, and resident insight. She offered to seek the detail of the survey if required.

Resolved

The Committee agreed to:

      i.         Note the content of the report and progress made during 2021/22 to reduce the harms from drug and alcohol within our communities.

     ii.         Maintain oversight of the new funding to ensure multi-agency working to support all objectives.