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DIP E-Bulletin - June 2008

Welcome to the June 2008 edition of the monthly e-bulletin for the Drug Interventions Programme.

Target achieved: 1,000 a week into treatment via CJS

DIP delivery partners and other stakeholders can celebrate a major milestone as they achieve a long-term goal of 1,000 people entering treatment via the criminal justice system each week.

Four years ago, former Prime Minister Tony Blair set a tough target for the fledgling Drug Interventions Programme. At the time, in March 2004, only 384 people entered treatment through the criminal justice system. He called for a step-change in local partnerships and policy to raise this to 1000 a week by the end of March 2008.

Figures show that this challenging target was actually achieved early, being reached for the first time in January 2008. There are now consistently over 4,000 a month entering treatment through interventions in the criminal justice system, which is significant progress.

Paying tribute to the ongoing work of partners across the country, drugs minister Vernon Coaker said ‘This kind of achievement comes only through a root and branch change in the way people work, from the strategic planning to the policy and procedures, right through to frontline delivery of treatment and other support.

‘Not only have our partners had to deal with enormous change in how they work, but they have also had to find and close the gaps in the system that used to allow far too many people to disengage from treatment and relapse before significant progress could be made to help reduce their drug misuse and offending behaviour. When it happens now, it is noticed and there is someone there to do something about it.

‘It’s important to remember that drug-misusing offenders are often the hardest to reach and those in the most chaotic lifestyles. Their offending has a major impact in our communities so every person who has been lifted out of the downward spiral of crime and drugs is a major success story. So meeting this target is a real cause for celebration for us all.’

The Drug Interventions Programme has demonstrated how government departments, regional/local agencies and partners can work effectively together in reducing crime, and is a keystone for making communities safer. It continues to sit at the heart of the government’s 2008 drug strategy, Drugs: protecting families and communities.

There is already significant evidence of how it is changing the lives of individual drug-misusing offenders and also how this is turning into benefits for local communities. Since DIP began, acquisitive crime – to which drug-related crime makes a substantial contribution - has fallen by around a fifth. DIP is also associated with reductions in offending and evidence from around the country shows a consistent pattern of improved access to and retention in treatment, as well as improvements in health, more stable relationships and a range of other benefits to the individuals and the communities they live in. 

Quick DIP guide to ‘what happens where’ is published

Each year, DIP publishes the DIP geographic spread document - a spreadsheet that provides an easy overview of which interventions are being implemented in which areas of England and Wales.

One of the changes the document covers is the end of the Testing on Charge policy across the country by April 2009.  Areas currently involved in Testing on Charge only will switch to Testing on Arrest on a case-by-case basis, except for Torbay and Staffordshire, which will discontinue testing from October 2008.

The latest version of the document, correct as at June 2008, is now available online at the above link.

Link to latest Key Messages

The latest Key Messages for DIP provide a ‘core script’ to describe the various elements of the programme and the key points that should be understood about them. This can be a useful resource when preparing reports, briefings and other publications about DIP and it is reviewed and updated every two months.  The June/July edition is now available at the above link.