Drug and alcohol services could face funding cuts

Drug and alcohol services in East Sussex are facing funding cuts as part of proposals set to go in front of a senior county councillor.

At a meeting on Tuesday, East Sussex County Council's lead member for adult social care, Carl Maynard, will be asked to approve proposals to begin the process of recommissioning the county's drugs and alcohol treatment service with a reduced budget.

The authority currently commissions the service from health and social care charity Change Grow Live, but its contract is due to expire in March 2026.

The proposed value of a new contract is £4.8m, about £300,000 lower than the current £5.1m.

The new contract would begin in April 2026, initially for five years, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

According to the council, the reduction in the contract's value is partly due to cuts being made in its adult social care budget, but also comes as a result of it moving non-clinical treatment for 18 to 25-year-olds to a specialist youth service.

However, the council said the public health grant investment into drug and alcohol treatment services would be protected.

Reduced funding was previously raised as part of budget-setting proposals discussed by cabinet members in September and November 2024.

In a report from the September cabinet meeting, a council spokesperson said the cut "would mean there would no longer be any directly commissioned recovery services in the county".

According to the council, the potential change also comes as a result of proposals to end the core funded annual grants programme, which currently funds these recovery services.

However, the council said East Sussex could be set to receive additional funds through the drug and alcohol treatment and recovery improvement grants, subject to agreement from the Treasury.

The November cabinet papers also made reference to further savings of £507,000 over two years, beginning in the 2024-25 financial year, which would be made by reducing funding for treatment services.

The papers warned the change could likely increase the number of people with drug and alcohol dependency.

According to the report to Maynard, East Sussex is facing significant challenges relating to drug and alcohol use, with alcohol-related hospital admissions rising steadily since 2009-10.

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