Government Offices are working with regional partners to deliver the Government’s National Drug Strategy, via both Drugs Action Teams and the Drugs Intervention Programme.
More information on the national picture
The strategy, 'Drugs: protecting families and communities' focuses on four areas:
- Protecting communities through robust enforcement to tackle drug supply, drug related crime and anti-social behaviour
- Preventing harm to children, young people and families affected by drug misuse
- Delivering new approaches to drug treatment and social re-integration
- Public information campaigns, communications and community engagement.
Local partnerships, including Local Strategic Partnerships, Drug Action Teams and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, play a critical role in delivering the Strategy at a local level.
There are 19 multi-agency Drug Action Teams (DATs) in the South East that operate as partnerships within unitary and county boundaries. Many of these partnerships also include alcohol in their remit and are now known as Drug and Alcohol Action Teams (DAATs). These partnerships are expected to work closely with their Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) counterparts, responsible for delivering the Government's Crime Reduction Strategy. A number of DATs and CDRPs in the South East have integrated to facilitate closer working.
There is a strong and reciprocal relationship between drug misuse and related issues, such as crime, anti-social behaviour and social exclusion. Action to tackle drug misuse will have an impact on related issues, such as the level of crime. The reciprocal nature of this relationship supports the need for the embedding of responses to drug misuse within the agendas of delivery partners. This mainstreaming process is essential to establish and maintain a long term and sustainable response to drug misuse. This process is supported by the new local government performance framework.
