Dorset Council is one of just four local authority areas in the southwest to secure government funding to address drug and alcohol misuse.

The £306,713 will support people to access detox and rehabilitation services outside of Dorset where appropriate, as well as improving wraparound support in the local area, such as access to mental health and substance use workers and peer mentors, who are key to working with vulnerable people in treatment services.

Rough sleepers who are being provided with emergency accommodation during the pandemic as part of the government’s ‘Everyone In’ programme, and people who are currently rough sleeping will be eligible for support.

The project will work closely with the Next Steps Accommodation Programme (NSAP), through which Dorset Council has also received £1.6m to help people find and maintain safe, stable accommodation across the county as appropriate. The council has also agreed a further £4.78m over the next two years to purchase and refurbish properties to support homeless and rough sleeper households.

Cllr Graham Carr-Jones, portfolio holder for housing and community safety at Dorset Council said, “This funding shows how seriously Dorset Council takes the issues around substance use and housing locally – and the strong partnerships we have locally to help address these issues. By bringing together organisations that have the expertise to support people, and providing them with the resources they need, we can really help change individuals’ lives, which will also benefit their loved ones and the wider local community, who can suffer from the impact of substance misuse.”