Gateshead Council has received £1.25m to boost its drug misuse recovery programme.
According to council documents, between April 2019 and March 2020, 892 new admissions were recorded by Gateshead's substance recovery service. Of these, 17% were a parent, or an adult living with a child.
In addition, 397 children, subject to a needs assessment, reported alcohol misuse by a parent or adult as an issue. The new funding comes as alcohol and drug-related deaths continue to rise, both nationally and locally.
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The money comes from a £421m Government pot called the Supplemental Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery (SSMTR) Grant to help local authorities improve drug and alcohol addiction treatment and recovery through to 2025. Gateshead is one of 151 councils to get a share.
Gateshead's director of public health, Alice Wiseman said: "The aim of the grant is to deliver on our 10-year drug strategy. The funding we have been allocated for this financial year is £1.25m which is really good because it replaces money we previously lost with cuts to the public health grant."
The local authority also hopes to receive £2.4m for 2024 to 2025, however, this has not been confirmed.
Deputy leader of Gateshead Council, Coun Catherine Donovan said: "I accompanied Alice to an event that was held by Gateshead Recovery Partnership. I have to say it was quite an emotional thing to listen to.
"It struck me at the time that it is not just about the one person in recovery, the cracks spread much further to families and friends. These people lose their lives to addiction and it was lovely to hear them speaking about how they felt and see their families support them.
"We need more and more of this and it is not something everyone knows about. It was great to see people rebuilding their lives."
While councillors and officers were grateful for the funding, there was a consensus that funding cuts are still inhibiting the area.
Gateshead Council's cabinet member for children and young people, Gary Haley said: "While this is welcomed, as all grants are, it is to support a 10-year programme strategy, with only one-year funding with no guarantee for further years. It only takes us back to where we were 13 years ago.
"If the Government returned all our funding to where it was 13 years ago, we would be in a better place."
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