Localism and austerity

The Localism and Austerity research project, running until April 2012, is documenting the impact of increasing localism and decentralisation, alongside decreasing public service expenditure, on action in local areas to tackle the problems associated with illicit drugs. It aims to:

• Illustrate how across the country local priorities and strategies to address substance use problems are being affected by the changing landscape of public service commissioning and delivery, fiscal constraint, and the building of the ‘Big Society.’
• Draw lessons from case study examples of emerging responses to new partnership configurations and the devolving of responsibilities and management of resources in tackling problems associated with illicit drugs.
• Identify from available evidence the likely consequences of decisions to cease or reform activities and interventions in order to reduce expenditure and/or improve service delivery.
• Pull together the evidence in order to describe the different patterns of change and highlight potential problem areas for monitoring to assist individuals and organisations working in the field to identify key issues to be addressed in this period of rapid change.

The research has included:

• A seminar to explore the issues around applying payments by result to drug recovery. The report, “By their fruits… Applying payment by results to drug recovery“, was published following this seminar.
• A survey of English police forces and Basic Command Units, in conjunction with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), and a follow-up workshop of police officers working in the field of drug enforcement. The report, “Drug enforcement in an age of austerity“, sets out the key findings from the survey and workshop.
• A briefing paper, “Illicit Drugs and Public Health in 2012“, produced after a round-table workshop involving Directors of Public Health and national government representatives and held in conjunction in with the Association of Directors of Public Health.

If you would like more information about the research, please contact Helen Beck, Policy Researcher hbeck@ukdpc.org.uk or telephone: 0207 812 3791. The project is funded by Barclays. Follow up work, looking specifically at the potential impact of changes to young people’s services, is funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.