The City of London Substance Misuse Partnership (SMP), formerly known as the DAT, was established in 1999 to coordinate the implementation of the National Drug Strategy at a local level.
The update of the National Drug Strategy which was published in 2010 has three main themes:
Reducing demand – creating an environment where the vast majority of people who have never taken drugs continue to resist any pressures to do so, and making it easier for those that do to stop.
Restricting supply - we must make the UK an unattractive destination for drug traffickers by attacking their profits and driving up their risks.
Building recovery in communities - work with people who want to take the necessary steps to tackle their dependency on drugs and alcohol, and will offer a route out of dependence by putting the goal of recovery at the heart of all that we do.
For further information on the National Drug Strategy and the work of Substance Misuse Partnerships, please see the Home Office website.
The chair of the SMP and the Steering Group is Ian Harrison, Head of Resilience and Community Safety at the City of London. Other organisations with representatives on the steering group include:
NHS City and Hackney
Safer City Partnership
City of London Adult Services
City of London Children's and Families Service
East London NHS Foundation Trust
City of London Police
City of London Supporting People
The Probation Service
The SMP also employs three full-time staff to ensure its day to day running:
Drug Interventions Programme
The Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) is a key element of the Government’s National Drug Strategy that places emphasis on the need to break the cycle of crime and drugs. This is achieved by providing opportunities for drug misusing offenders to access programmes of help within the criminal justice system.
DIP is made up of three elements; drug testing on arrest, required assessments (previously voluntary) and restriction on bail.
This work is carried out in the City by the Arrest Referral Team who are based at Bishopsgate Police Station from 8am - 10pm Monday to Friday. The team can be contacted on the Single Point of Contact number - 0800 023 4831.
For more information about the Drug Interventions Programme please visit the Home Office website.
Strategy
In order to effectively implement the National Drug Strategy (422k), the SMP has developed a Commissioning Strategy which outlines the priorities and strategic direction for the next three to five years.
The overarching priority within the strategy is to:
Make the most of the synergies with the public health agenda, and to exploit the potential for greater collaboration with the Corporation's Health and Wellbeing function.
There are also a number of short-term priorities stated within the strategy, which are to:
Develop a needs assessment process to inform design of future service provision.
Sustain and develop a good quality substance misuse service for the resident population.
Develop a wider service approach to both the daytime and night-time populations.
Seek to influence the commissioning decisions of the corporate sector in the City.
View the full Commissioning Strategy (288k) of the SMP here.
Please feel free to contact us regarding any aspect of the work of the SMP (020 7332 1228).
- Published:
- 02 May 2012
- Last Modified:
- 27 February 2013