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Addicts are hit by Home office war
Departmental split threatens its own award-winning scheme
WARRING factions within the Home Office have crippled an award-winning service cutting drug-related crime.
The Westminster Drugs Intervention Programme (DIP) is “in crisis” after Home Office chiefs announced more than £300,000 in cuts – taking immediate effect.
Frontline specialists, smashing links between crime and drug-abuse with an astonishing success rate, will be halved.
The service has since 2004 slashed drug-related crime in Westminster by 20 per cent, according to chief superintendent John Morgan.
Home Office drugs chief Peter Wheelhouse was on Wednesday summoned to DIP’s headquarters in Frith Street, Soho, for crunch talks.
He said the division of the Home Office had led to the funding black hole.
He said: “The cuts reflect difficulties we are experiencing in the Home Office.”
A Home Office spokesman later agreed. “It has been caused by the changes in structure,” he said.
Home Office Minister John Reid in March created a Ministry of Justice –responsible for prisons, probation and sentencing – leaving the Home Office to focus on security, crime, drugs and terrorism.
The old Home Office in January recognised the scheme with a prestigious National Commendation.
But now that saving the criminal justice money is not their responsibility they are slashing funding.
For every £1 spent on Westminster DIP, which operates out of police and court custody suites, the criminal justice system saves £9 – amounting to a £3.3-million increase in Westminster alone.
The timing of the announcement is crucial with costly contracts already signed between workers and other partners.
West End Cllr Audrey Lewis said: “You have to look at the timing. What has made this difficult is that the team have already signed contracts for the coming year. You have to admit it looks like the split in the Home Office has led to the cuts – because why would the Home Office invest in something that will only help the criminal justice system?”
Westminster council has urged an immediate review. They say they are a special case that caters for 70 per cent of cases from outside Westminster and are demanding the decision is delayed until the National Drugs Strategy comes out next year.
But a Home Office spokesman said Westminster DIP did not need as much funding because it was so effective.
He said: “The programme has become more efficient and has developed. We no longer have to consider the start-up costs of the four-year-old programme. Some of these costs diminish as practices become more finely tuned.” |
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