Decision details

The provision of enhanced substance misuse treatment pathways and treatment intensity for clients of the Probation Service is key to improving client engagement, subsequent treatment outcomes, and ultimately reduced offending.

Delivering enhanced D&R pathways and treatment via the existing community providers commissioned by local authorities, provides a coherent treatment system for service users and professionals. A separately commissioned service for clients of the Probation Service would provide a less efficient and less co-ordinated system and may even be detrimental to outcomes due to clients needing to access multiple points for substance use support. This would also limit the feedback of information from core treatment services to probation as there would be no funded capacity.

In previous years, this funding has been provided directly to the treatment services by the GMCA however this removed the local authority commissioners from the direct process and is not optimal in terms of strategic co-ordination with other funding streams available for this area of work. The 2023/24 D&R funding decision notice, approved 29th November 2023, indicated that providing funding to local authorities is the preferred model for 2024/25 and beyond should IRS funding be available. This model has been discussed with local authority commissioners and relevant service providers at GM co-ordination meetings over the last 12 months.

The D&R funding will follow the same model as is currently used between the GMCA and local authority areas for the Community Safety Grant, Voluntary and Community Sector Grant, and Hate Crime Grant (relevant DN approved 19th April 2023). It is intended that the local CSP will provide scrutiny of the grant for each local authority and will provide assurance to the GMCA that the funds have been utilised in accordance with the grant conditions.

Funding values are currently only available for 2024/25 however if IRS D&R funding remains available in future years, it is intended that this grant funding process to local authorities will remain the preferred model.

Greater Manchester Integrated Recovery Services Dependency and Recovery (GM IRS D&R) grants are made to the ten Greater Manchester local authorities to enable the co-ordinated commissioning of effective drug and alcohol services for clients of HM Probation Service to the total value of £1257000.