£2.2m grant will boost addiction services in Blackburn

Blackburn with Darwen Council has been given a grant of £2.2million to boost its services to help get addicts and alcoholics of drugs and booze.

The cash – part of nearly £900m nationally over three years, including £310m in 2025/26 – is part of the government’s “From Harm to Hope” strategy.

It will pay for an extra 22 staff working in the field.

The new cash was reported to the borough’s ruling executive board by public health boss Cllr Damian Talbot when it met on Thursday last week.

The Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant (DATRIG) will be administered through the SPARK Integrated Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Service, led by Calico Group with multiple subcontractors.

A report by Cllr Talbot said: “Nationally, substance misuse services have faced funding pressures.

“Blackburn with Darwen received £2,229,697 in 2025/26.

“The purpose of this report is to obtain approval for the variation to the SPARK Integrated Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Service contract to provide additional support to expand drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services to people in the borough.

“Blackburn with Darwen currently commission the following service provision for substance misuse locally: SPARK Integrated Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Service which incorporates Calico Group as the lead provider with sub-contracting via Early Break, Acorn, Delphi Medical, Red Rose Recovery (locally known as Roots), CVS, IMO and others.

“Substance misuse services across the country have been under significant strain following the financial climate over recent years which has led to reductions in funding for both these services and wider support structures for those who use the services.

“An independent review of drugs by Professor Dame Carol Black provided a 10-year plan to cut crime and save lives by reducing the supply and demand for drugs and delivering a high-quality treatment and recovery system.

“To support these ambitious priorities, additional funding has been allocated to Public Health Teams via a grant..

“Several grants that were previously used to support drug and alcohol treatment and recovery have been consolidated into a single grant, (DATRIG).

“This additional funding is on top of the annual ringfenced public health grant that local authorities use to fund their public health functions, including drug and alcohol services.

“It will enable our providers to support additional posts, and strengthen prevention, early intervention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery pathways to deliver a high quality, integrated and responsive substance misuse service offer for all residents of Blackburn with Darwen.”

Cllr Talbot said: “This is new money.

“It will support an extra 22 staff.

“It will enable people at risk of relapse to have longer term support rather than short-term interventions.

“We are hopeful of similar levels of grant funding over the next two years.”