THE money for drug and alcohol services in Bolton has been slashed by £1,618,299 in just four years.

An Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that Bolton Council spent £5,618,053 of a Public Health England grant upon substance misuse strategies from 2013 to 2014.

However, this financial year it has been cut to £3,999,754.

It follows an increase of 30 percent in deaths pertaining to drug misuse over the last four years in Bolton – inline with a national rise – according to the Office of National Statistics.

UK Addiction Treatment Centres (UKAT) – an addiction treatment firm – lodged the FOI with 152 unitary and upper tier councils which receive Public Health Grants

Bolton sits in the top 15 of councils which responded, with the largest amount of drop off in spend in drug and alcohol treatment over four years.

Founder Eytan Alexander said the decision to remove the protected drug and alcohol treatment budget had forced Bolton Council into spinning more plates with less money.

He added: “This decision was, without a doubt, a catalyst for disaster.

“Slashing budgets on substance misuse is a false economy as it simply piles the pressure on our already stretched emergency services.

“The alarming correlation between the real term cut to council budgets and the rise in drug-related deaths across the country needs to be addressed and this vicious cycle needs to end.”

Approximately 2,000 people a year use the council drug and alcohol treatment services.

A council spokesman said the cuts imposed by central government had a significant impact on what and how it delivers the service.

They added: “The provision of drug and alcohol services remains a priority and we have recently undertaken a review and redesign of these services with a view to improving outcomes, focussing on the recovery of people who have completed treatment and helping them to sustain a safe and healthy lifestyle.

“We anticipate the number of people accessing the service will remain broadly the same as current levels and may even be slightly higher once the new provider is fully operational.

“They have a proven record of improving the quality of local treatment services in spite of limited budgets, so we are confident we will continue to provide a good service to people with complex drug and alcohol issues.”