Concordat Watchdog

INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE

In December 2010, the coalition government launched its first drug strategy, Reducing Demand, Restricting Supply, Building Recovery: supporting people to live a drug-free life.  The strategy articulates a clear policy for the reform of the drug and alcohol sector which seeks to make it less bureaucratic and more focused on delivering outcomes in terms of people’s recovery from addiction.

However, there are real concerns about the extent to which this policy will be reflected in the commissioning decisions of local budget holders. Primary Care Trusts and Local Authorities, through local commissioning partnerships, are now charged with reviewing the expenditure of over £1billion of public money and ensuring that they remove waste, and introduce more opportunities for real recovery from addiction into their local treatment system. In the absence of any government scrutiny mechanism, or disciplinary/ whistleblower infrastructure, the Concordat Watchdog has been established as an informal mechanism for assessing commissioners’ progress in this task and for challenging examples of poor practice.

Concordat Watchdog launch in the House of Commons

Link to Concordat Standards and Language Definitions.

Link to the Concordat Watchdog Process.

If you need the help of the Watchdog, click on the Initial Concern tab above or click here.