Agenda item

Questions

Minutes:

Drug Use in the City

Dhruv Patel asked a question of the Deputy Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee concerning the City Corporation’s efforts to address the demand side of the drug use in the City.

 

Responding, the Deputy Chairman noted that this activity necessarily involved co-ordinated activity with a number of different bodies, both internally and externally, across the areas of outreach, engagement with City businesses, education, public and mental health, grants and commissioning.

 

In particular, he outlined the significant volume of targeted work in partnership with businesses to challenge, prevent and address substance misuse amongst the City’s diverse worker population. The aim of this activity was to establish models of intervention that could assist businesses and employees across London and the United Kingdom facing similar complex challenges. Specific reference was made to the “Business Healthy” initiative, which provided City employers with free support to promote better health and wellbeing for their staff. Businesses were also encouraged to share best practice with each other on a range of issues including emotional wellbeing, mental health, alcohol and substance misuse. As part of the City’s ongoing commitment, from 1 May 2019 it would also be funding a new Public Health project to develop additional programmes to support employers in identifying and tackling substance misuse within their firms.

 

Significant activity with the City of London Police, through the drug risk reduction strategy, was also outlined; as were services being funded through The City Bridge Trust.

 

In closing, the Deputy Chairman recognised the cross-cutting nature of drug crime and expressed his hope that the response provided a flavour of the wide range of activities the City Corporation was pursuing to tackle this very serious, but also very complex issue.

 

Responding to a supplementary question from John Fletcher regarding importance of drug users being made aware of the impact of the drug trade, the Deputy Chairman thanked him for his comments and noted that officers would give them consideration.

 

Mental Health Strategy

Rehana Ameer asked a question of the Chairman of the Community and Children’s Services Committee in relation to the outcomes and achievements of the City Corporation’s Mental Health Strategy 2015-2018.

 

Replying, the Chairman advised that the 2015-18 document had driven a range of achievements and improvements in services. This included improved access to talking treatments, such as counselling, which had enabled 90% of those living in the City and experiencing anxiety and depression to receive treatments within six weeks of referral. The Chairman also outlined the investment in mental health services for children and young people, which had increased by nearly £3million since  2014-15, enabling more children and young people to be seen than any other London area in 2017-18.

 

Reference was made to a number of other initiatives that helped prevent or tackle mental ill health, such as those to tackle loneliness, to support carers, to encourage and reward volunteering, or to improve the wellbeing of City workers.

 

The  Chairman noted that the Strategy was currently being renewed for the forthcoming period and would come to the Community & Children’s Services Committee for consideration at its 7 June 2019 meeting.

 

Responding to a supplementary question from Rehana Ameer, the Chairman provided a summary of some of the investments made by the City in mental health initiatives and care and the quantifiable outcomes achieved.

 

This included investment in a new Mental Health Centre that would make longer term psychotherapeutic interventions available at low cost to those on low incomes; help in the home, specialist accommodation and other support for those with mental ill health; and seven day a week delivery of the Street Triage service, which had has delivered a near 50% reduction in people taken under Mental Health Act Section to either police stations or hospitals.