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 reduce the number of drugs-related deaths; and what discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Northern Ireland, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland on this issue.

The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need, and we recognise the need for evidenced-based, high-quality treatment, to reduce the number of drug related deaths. 

Local authorities are responsible for assessing the local need for drug and alcohol prevention and treatment in their area, and for commissioning services to meet those needs. 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 recovery support, which includes housing and employment.

The Department has an action plan in place to reduce drug and alcohol-related deaths, which is currently being reviewed to ensure that it is grounded in the latest understanding of the drivers of drug and alcohol related deaths, and is responding to these. In 2024, the Department published guidance for local authorities and their partnerships on how to review adult drug and alcohol-related deaths and near-fatal overdoses, to prevent future deaths.

Alongside the funding allocations, the Department has a range of existing and forthcoming best practice resources and guidance that supports those working in the sector to tailor drug and alcohol treatment services to meet local needs, to improve treatment outcomes. The commissioning quality standard provides guidance to local authorities on how to ensure they have a shared understanding of local need, including the experiences of diverse populations. The commissioning quality standard is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/commissioning-quality-standard-alcohol-and-drug-services

The Department continues to work with all local areas to address unmet needs and drug and alcohol misuse deaths, and to drive improvements in the continuity of care. This includes the Unmet Need Toolkit, which can be used by local areas to assess local need and plan to meet it.

As health is a devolved matter, each administration of the United Kingdom takes its own decisions on the provision of treatment and other action to address drug related deaths. Nonetheless, it is important that the four nations work together and share learning to tackle the health harms that drugs pose. This includes through our UK wide legislation to expand access to take home naloxone that has been developed in close partnership with devolved administrations. We will continue to work closely with colleagues in the devolved administrations, to share learning and align our approaches where appropriate.