Update on the £15M for alcohol interventions: allocations for London PCTs

Recap on the £15M
The Dept of Health wrote to all PCTs in 2005, saying:

Alcohol interventions Funding is available from 2007-08 and has been allocated on a weighted capitation basis to all PCTs.

• The total amount available is £15M for English PCTs.  More details on the provenance of the money can be found here.

• The funding is not ringfenced for alcohol, and will come into mainstream PCT budgets from April as part of their general uplift.

• We understand that PCTs will be performance-managed on its use. PCTs that do not invest the money on developing alcohol interventions, will not receive the funding from April 2008.  However, this is unofficial; Strategic Health Authorities should be able to confirm or deny this at local level.

How much funding has been allocated to each PCT?
It seems that many local alcohol leads have struggled to get information about how much their PCT will receive (and what the PCT plans to do with it).   The allocation is based on the normal capitation formula for PCTs and it does not appear to incorporate any additional calcuations based on alcohol-related need. 

Alcohol Concern has been unable to obtain allocations per PCT from the Department of Health, and are arranging for a Parliamentary Question to be tabled.  This should tell us what proportion the £15M makes up of the overall uplift - so that the local figures can be calculated.  We have obtained unofficial allocations for London PCTs - see below.

If you have any information about what's happening where you are, please do leave a comment, or contact us.

What will the funding be used for?
This is for the PCT to decide.  There is no requirement to spend it on alcohol interventions.  In London, most of the alcohol coordinators would like to see the funding used to develop hospital based early interventions.

Allocations for London
These figures have been given to London PCT Chief Executives for planning purposes, but have not been officially confirmed.

• 92k  Barnet
• 81k  Camden
• 82k  Enfield
• 80k  Haringey
• 72k  Islington
• 59k  Barking & Dagenham
• 92k  City & Hackney
• 70k  Havering
• 100k Newham
• 67k   Redbridge
• 87k  Tower Hamlets
• 73k  Waltham Forest
• 90k  Brent
• 96k  Ealing
• 58k  Hammersmith & Fulham
• 55k  Harrow
• 69k  Hillingdon
• 66k  Hounslow
• 60k  Kensington & Chelsea
• 76k  Westminster
• 60k  Bexley
• 83k  Bromley
• 79k  Greenwich
• 96k  Lambeth
• 82k  Lewisham
• 90k  Southwark
• 96k  Croydon
• 43k  Kingston
• 46k  Richmond & Twickenham
• 101k Sutton & Merton
• 80k  Wandsworth

Comments

[james]

It would be great to hear of any plans or committments any areas/PCTs have made. This is the first money supposed to be available for alcohol-I really hope it goes on whats its intended.