DEPARTMENT FOR WORK
AND PENSIONS News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service
on 27 April 2009
A drug treatment
referral scheme to get drug users off benefits and back into work
starts operating across England today, announced Employment and
Welfare Reform Minister Tony McNulty.
Heroin or crack cocaine users claiming benefits in England will
be able to access advice and referral from their Jobcentre to a
drug treatment service so that they can get better and take steps
to return to work.
The Welfare Reform Bill, currently before Parliament, includes
provisions to pilot a new mandatory employment-support programme
for problem drug users. They will be required to attend
discussions about treatment and agree a rehabilitation plan. The
plan will set out the steps they will take to address both their
drug problem and any other barriers to work that they face.
Failing to comply with the plan could result in benefit sanctions.
Today is the first step in the process that will follow once the
Welfare Reform Bill has passed through Parliament.
Tony McNulty said:
"From today every Jobcentre across England will be able to
offer heroin and crack cocaine addicts on benefits access to the
help and support they need so that they can get well and return to
work - ultimately reducing the cost to society, reducing poverty,
social exclusion and helping to improve people's health.
"But from next year our offer of help comes with an
obligation for drug addicts to actively find out about the support
options available to them - if they don't they could be
sanctioned and may lose their benefits."
The scheme is a joint initiative by the Department for Work and
Pensions and the Department of Health.
Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said:
"The health problems from heroin and crack cocaine are
substantial and long lasting. Thanks to record investment, the
numbers of people entering drug treatment has increased
substantially. But opening up new routes to treatment is a must.
For every £1 spent on drug treatment there is a saving of £9.50 to
society as a whole."
Helping drug users on benefits into treatment is the first step
in helping them regain control over their lives so they can
overcome their addiction, be safer and healthier, and reintegrate
into society.
Drug coordinators have already taken up their posts in every
region across England to ensure the local links between Jobcentre
Plus and drug services are seamless and that problem drug users
receive more integrated support to help them tackle their drug use.
Notes to editors
1. This initiative follows concerns that the social and economic
cost of drug misuse is unacceptably high - problematic drug use in
Britain costs society around £15.4 billion a year in crime and
health costs alone. Evidence suggests that over three-quarters of
the around 400,000 heroin and crack cocaine users in Britain are
claiming welfare benefits.
2. The role of the drug coordinator is to establish links between
Jobcentres and treatment providers and to ensure customers'
referral into treatment runs smoothly.
3. The role of the drug coordinator is to ensure the treatment
providers are easily accessible and to ensure transition from
referral to treatment runs smoothly.
4. The Welfare Reform Bill that is currently before Parliament
includes provisions to pilot a new mandatory regime for heroin and
crack cocaine users. The pilots will test a new mandatory
employment support programme for problem drug users. They will be
required to agree a rehabilitation plan that includes steps that
they will take to address both their drug problem and any other
barriers to work that they face. Failing to comply with the plan
could result in benefit sanctions being applied.
5. The Government's 10 year drug strategy "Drugs:
protecting families and communities" was published in
February last year.
6. Information about the new scheme will be available in the
Jobcentre Plus programmes and services section at http://www.direct.gov.uk