Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling
Binge drinking in Britain
New Office for National Statistics data shows big drop in young people’s binge drinking but big regional variations. 5 key trends highlighted on ONS digital channel…
7th July 2015
New Office for National Statistics data shows big drop in young people’s binge drinking but big regional variations. 5 key trends highlighted on ONS digital channel…
Are the NAO’s features a copper-bottomed guarantee of an effective PbR scheme? Or are you more in agreement with me that the attraction of PbR is the chance to move away from the straight-jacket of contemporary procurement and stimulate fresh approaches, under-written by the knowledge that if a provider fails, the commissioner doesn’t have to pay?
National Offender Management Service has published its annual report and accounts for 2014/15. What does it tell us?
An intriguing first speech from new Justice Secretary Michael Gove sets out a vision of “one nation justice policy.” The tone and content were so striking that the Guardian was moved to write an editorial sub-titled: “hope at last for penal reform?”
The most recent EMCDDA estimate suggests that almost 1% Europeans use cannabis daily or almost daily (defined as 20 days or more per month). Since 2008, cannabis use is the main reason that Europeans enter drug treatment for the first time. Over this time, the number of first-time cannabis clients has risen markedly and cannabis users represent around half a more of all service users entering drug treatment in Cyprus, Denmark, France, Hungary and the Netherlands.
Professor Brooker concludes with a plea that both the National Probation Service and the new private Community Rehabilitation Companies should be equipping their staff with training to at least recognise mental health disorders and to take some action in attempting to connect probationers to existing services.
PbR schemes are typically targeted at intractable, multi-faceted social problems with the hope that an outcome-focused approach will encourage innovation and more holistic responses. If government departments cannot even co-ordinate their commissioning around PbR, it will be very difficult for providers to design and deliver new solutions.
The researchers come to the very fair conclusion that PbR is not a straightforward guarantee of improving performance in drug and alcohol recovery. Although previous studies have shown that PbR can drive some limited improvements in quality, this study unambiguously found that: “the introduction of payment for outcomes had a significant, negative impact on successful treatment completion.”
IDPC argues that women drug users experience greater stigma and discrimination, as they are often perceived to be ‘fallen women’. Their lack of decision-making power and economic resources, as well as vulnerability to physical and sexual violence heightens the risk of HIV, Hep C and other blood-borne viruses.
The reason for targeting health interventions at offenders is that poor health is often interlinked with offending. Offenders are known to suffer disproportionately from multiple and complex health issues which are often exacerbated by the difficulties they experience in accessing health and social care services in the local community.
The UK had the highest rate of heroin use in Europe (out of 21 reporting countries). The UK had the highest rate of cocaine use in Europe (out of 26 reporting countries). The UK had the highest rate of ecstasy use in Europe (out of 25 reporting countries). The UK had the 22nd highest rate of amphetamine use (out of 25 reporting countries). The UK had the 22nd highest rate of cannabis use (out of 27 reporting countries)
The Prison Reform Trust’s Bromley Briefings are the best source of up-to-date, accurate information on everything that’s going on in our prisons. If you want to know who is being imprisoned, for doing what, in what sort of conditions…
