Closure of the Middlesbrough Diamorphine-Assisted Treatment programme

That this House is dismayed that the pioneering Middlesbrough Diamorphine-Assisted Treatment programme has closed due to the withdrawal of funding; applauds the exemplary efforts of Danny Ahmed and his colleagues at the addiction treatment clinic in helping to save and rebuild lives; recognises the success of this scheme in providing invaluable health benefits to participants and reducing offending and criminal justice costs significantly, as verified by Teesside University’s independent evaluation; acknowledges that drug deaths are at record levels, with people in Middlesbrough statistically more likely to die from a drug-related death than a car accident; notes that the Government’s Drugs Strategy, From Harm to Hope, published a year ago, stated that the cost of drug misuse is absolutely staggering and the human toll is incalculably larger, measured not in pounds lost but in lives shattered; further notes that the strategy stressed the need for evidence-based interventions and innovation, and identified Middlesbrough as the area worst-affected by opiate use; reaffirms the cross-party views of the Home Affairs Committee and the Drugs, Alcohol and Justice APPG that this evidence-based and cost-effective treatment scheme should be continued; and calls on the Government to ensure that the Middlesbrough Diamorphine-Assisted Treatment is rescued and restored at the earliest opportunity and sustainable funding can be secured.