Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Drug and Alcohol Needs Assessment 

Task  

Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council commissioned TONIC to undertake a Drug and Alcohol Needs Assessment. The aim of this project was to inform future planning and commissioning and to help to make strategic investment decisions based on contextual information about substance use, treatment, and current need. 

TONIC’s Approach  

TONIC began by conducting a literature review that summarised both local and national key documents, policies and strategies to provide insight into the current knowledge and approach. Quantitative data analysis was conducted using a range of data sources about alcohol, drugs, and young people. This focused on overall prevalence, indicators of need, and details about treatment and outcomes, highlighting trends, issues, and topics where Cambridgeshire and Peterborough differ from the national picture. 

To deliver this Drug and Alcohol Needs Assessment, TONIC engaged over 630 local people. The fieldwork process took just over a month and involved an online survey, attendance at virtual CGL sessions and researchers spending a total of 11 days onsite at various CGL hubs across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The online survey reached 300 people, including 158 individuals with direct lived experience and 13 respondents on behalf of someone with lived experience of substance use, as well as 129 professional stakeholders. In-depth interviews and focus groups were also conducted with 252 individuals with lived experience of substance use and 70 professional stakeholders.  

Outcome 

TONIC used the three main objectives of the national 10-year drug strategy to structure the findings in this report: breaking supply chains, delivering a world-class treatment and recovery system, and achieving a generational shift in demand for drugs. To do this, it was necessary to summarise the views of both individuals with lived experience and professional stakeholders to identify the strengths and limitations within the current system and any significant barriers that may prevent individuals from accessing support.  

Based on fieldwork, as well as specific suggestions made by participants, TONIC set out a series of 70 recommendations under each of the key ambitions from the national Drug Strategy. The majority of these recommendations focused on the continuation of existing innovative projects, such as in-house psychology, and expanding these where funding allows. Other recommendations were broken down into priority areas to be of particular focus for commissioners, commissioned services and the wider Drug and Alcohol Strategic Partnership.