§ Paddy AshdownTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of expenditure on drug rehabilitation work in(a) Somerset and (b) England and Wales for each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [151582]
§ Ms Stuart[holding answer 01 March 2001]: The information requested is not collected centrally. Information from drug action team template returns indicate that £151.8 million was spent on drug treatment in England in 1999–2000 by all agencies, although this is likely to be an underestimate due to incomplete data, as some drug action teams were unable to provide data either in time or in the format required. Somerset health authority received a drug misuse special allocation of £405,000 in 1999–2000.
Spending Review 2000 provides for a major gearing up of adult and young people's treatment services, and will raise total expenditure on treatment to over £400 million in 2003–04. Although its final remit is yet to be finally decided, the proposed National Treatment Agency is likely to oversee performance management and development of local agencies, including approval of the treatment plans of drug action teams.