§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse plans to locate staff within the Government Office for the north-west during 2003. [128567]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) was originally structured with a regional manager in nine areas across the country. In 2002, a review of the NTA found regional managers had been over stretched and were not always fully engaged, with Government offices.
The board of the NTA, with the agreement of the Department of Health and the Home Office, decided that further resources and staff should be deployed in each of the regions, commensurate with the area and the number of drug action teams covered. Within the north-west, the regional manager has been joined by two deputy regional managers and one other additional member of staff. A third deputy regional manager is also being recruited.
The Board also decided that collocating the NTA teams in the Government Office for the north-west would enable closer working with Government Office colleagues. Collocation of the north-west NTA team took place on 7 July 2003.