Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will expand substitution therapy interventions for those with opioid dependency.

Local authorities are responsible for commissioning drug and alcohol treatment services according to local need, and this includes the provision of opioid substitution treatment such as methadone and both oral and long-acting injectable buprenorphine.

On 20 November, the Government announced an investment of over £13.4 billion, a 5.6% cash increase, over the next three years in local authorities’ vital public health work through a consolidated Public Health Grant. This includes the overall £1 billion Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant. The Department advises local areas to prioritise resourcing opioid substitution therapy prescribing from this funding if the current provision is not adequate. Opioid substitution therapy is currently available in all local authorities in England, but access to long-acting injectable buprenorphine is too limited in some.

The Department supports interventions to expand the provision of long-acting injectable buprenorphine. We are currently doing more analysis to understand cost-effectiveness, developing clinical guidance, and scoping how best to expand access to long-acting injectable buprenorphine further.