Western Daily Press
9th February 2006

In recent years, a flood of drug addicts has been sent from across the UK, often with minimum supervision, to drying-out centres in Weston-super-Mare. Some have fallen through the cracks, turning to crime to feed their habits.

JOHN PENROSE, Weston's Tory MP, explains what is being done about the problem

ON the doorsteps of Weston-super-Mare, the question you will hear again and again is: "What's being done about the drug addicts?"

People are rightly proud of their home town - but they are worried the problem is getting out of control.

I believe they've got a point, which is why I launched the Cleaner Weston Campaign 18 months ago.

Since then, I've written to more than 150 authorities that refer addicts for treatment in Weston, using the Freedom of Information Act to find out how many people they've sent to Weston, where they have sent them, whether they've kept track of them and whether they've informed the local authorities.

We've found that the official figures for the number of addicts sent to Weston are massively underestimated, possibly by a half.

We've also found that some of the organisations which send addicts for treatment in Weston - mostly local social services, drug panels or health authorities - are badly failing both addicts and local people.

Some of them have sent addicts to Weston without checking whether the treatment centres they're using are any good.

Some of them, incredibly, don't keep track of their addicts once they're in Weston, which means vulnerable people are left to fend for themselves once they've finished their treatment.

Their failure is a stark contrast with the 'angel authorities' that are doing it right. Oxfordshire, for example, sends plenty of addicts to Weston. But they only use the best treatment centres, they keep track of addicts while they're there and they make sure they leave afterwards. If everybody followed their lead, we wouldn't have a problem.

The first we've uncovered is the quality of treatment which addicts receive when they're sent to Weston.

Many of the town's old guesthouses and big mansions have become drug treatment centres over the years as their owners looked for new sources of income after the local tourism industry declined.

Some of them have become very good, high-quality registered treatment centres. But some have become unregistered rehabs. Nobody inspects them, so nobody knows how many there are, or whether they provide care that's good or downright bad.

But what we do know, for certain, is that low-quality treatment centres are bad for addicts who need top-notch care to put the pieces of their lives back together.

Low-quality rehabs are bad for Weston too, because they become black spots of drug misuse, crime and disorder.

We need to make sure that addicts are only being sent to high-quality treatment centres, and the ones that fall short must either clean up or close down.

The second problem is that too many agencies are sending addicts to Weston without telling local health workers, social services or police.

That means the addicts are under the radar when they arrive in Weston, so no-one knows whether they need specialised help or support.

That's not fair on the addicts, or on Weston's hard-pressed local services, which are expected to cope when things go wrong.

And thirdly, too many people lose track of the addicts they've sent to Weston once their treatment is complete.

Ideally when addicts have finished their treatment they should leave Weston to rejoin their families, find work or start training, so they can re-enter society successfully. But if there isn't a proper plan for their care, they may end up on a street corner in Weston when their treatment finishes.

Even worse, if an addict relapses half way through their course, they may never make it to a street corner. They're much more likely to overdose and die.

Even if they avoid an overdose, many of them will have such chaotic lifestyles that they can't hold down a job, which means the only way they can get money for drugs is by crime.

Police say more than 90 per cent of Weston's acquisitive crime - such as robbery and burglary - is drug-related in some way.

For female addicts, prostitution is a risk, too.

BUT, thankfully, the picture is far from bleak.

Weston is starting to blaze a trail for the rest of the country to follow.

The local council, strongly supported by the police, has started tightening its grip on local rehabs.

Already the number of rehab beds has started to fall as unregistered places have been forced to close.

Later this year Weston will have one of the first comprehensive accreditation schemes for its rehabs in the entire country, to make sure they meet strict standards.

In the meantime I've written to the worst offending local authorities, telling them to keep better track of the addicts they're sending to Weston and to use only our highest quality treatment centres.

Two weeks ago, I asked the Government to take notice of what we're doing, too, by leading a special debate in Commons.

Amazingly, they've agreed that the steps we're taking in Weston should be applied to the rest of the country too.

They've agreed to use Weston's local accreditation scheme as a pilot for their full-scale national roll out.

And they've promised a tighter grip on local authorities who send people for treatment, so they keep track of addicts everywhere in the country, not just in Weston.

I believe that Weston can beat this problem.

In fact, I think we've already taken the first steps on the road towards recovery.

When - not if - Weston is clean from drugs, it will be easier to attract the investment and new jobs to which the town centre and seafront needs.

A seaside town needs a clean, healthy image. With any luck, Weston's children will inherit a resort that's got one.