Transparency data

Project ADDER programme data

Updated 15 March 2024

Applies to England and Wales

© Crown copyright 2024

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/project-adder-programme-data/project-adder-programme-data

This note provides a summary of the activity of the Project ADDER programme since its launch in November 2020 with supplementary material to support the interpretation of the headline figures.

Project ADDER

Project Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery (Project ADDER thereafter) is a pathfinder programme mobilised before the Government’s Drug Strategy. Project ADDER is led by the Home Office and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), with support from other government departments.

The strategic aims of the programme are to reduce drug-related offending, drug deaths and drug use. Project ADDER combines co-ordinated law enforcement activity, alongside expanded diversionary programmes, enhanced treatment and recovery provisions, (including housing and employment support) to drive down drug-related offending, drug use and drug deaths. Project ADDER began a phased implementation from November 2020, supported by £59m investment to March 2023. Through the Drug Strategy we have committed to extending criminal justice funding for Project ADDER for two more years until March 2025.

The five original local Project ADDER pilot areas are Blackpool, Hastings, Middlesbrough, Norwich and Swansea Bay. Building on the Project ADDER model, the government announced an expansion of the programme in July 2021, to include Bristol, Newcastle, Wakefield, two London boroughs (Hackney and Tower Hamlets), and three local authorities in Liverpool City Region (Knowsley, Liverpool City and Wirral).

Project ADDER programme monitoring data

In order to aid ongoing monitoring, self-reported management data is collected from Project ADDER and Accelerator-funded locations on a range of metrics related to delivery of the programme.

Since the start of the programme work has been underway to improve the data.

Table 1 contains monitoring data from January 2021 up to December 2023. These reflect several improvements made to the original data, including adding new performance metrics and quality-assuring some of the original estimates as described below.

Self-reported management data has been quality assured by Project ADDER and Accelerator sites and may be subject to change. All data is reflective of wider activity in each site and therefore changes over time cannot be directly attributed to Project ADDER alone at this stage. The independent evaluation of Project ADDER will investigate the impacts of the programme. For transparency we provide both the revised figures (Table 1) and original figures (Table 2), where applicable.

Table 1: Latest Project ADDER monitoring data for the period January 2021 to December 2023 [footnote 1][footnote 2]

Self-reported management data

Jan to Mar 2021 Apr to Jun 2021 Jul to Sep 2021 Oct to Dec 2021 Jan to Mar 2022 Apr to Jun 2022 Jul to Sep 2022 Oct to Dec 2022 Jan to March 2023 Apr to Jun 2023 Jul to Sep 2023 Oct to Dec 2023
Organised Crime Group (OCG) disruptions[footnote 3] 73 152 199 214 284 454 498 502 743 678 761 705
Cash seized, £[footnote 4] 151,843 815,782 986,115 1,597,220 1,141,842 1,144,272 1,243,367 1,346,142 1,391,953 868,603 831,119 1,272,425
Arrests[footnote 5] 954 2,413 3,510 3,307 3,655 3,215 3,626 2,799 2,474 2,987 3,186 2,961

Police recorded crime data[footnote 6]

Jan to Mar 2021 Apr to Jun 2021 Jul to Sep 2021 Oct to Dec 2021 Jan to Mar 2022 Apr to Jun 2022 Jul to Sep 2022 Oct to Dec 2022 Jan to March 2023 April to June 2023 Jul to Sep 2023 Oct to Dec 2023
Drug trafficking offences 272 948 892 965 957 967 1,011 1,043 1,133 1,194 1,108 N/A
Drug trafficking charges 106 571 447 538 609 528 466 549 514 445 463 N/A
Drug possession offences 744 4,172 3,773 3,631 4,116 4,069 3,921 3,599 3,657 3,377 3,727 N/A
Drug possession charges 218 963 932 851 972 888 923 942 1,001 936 977 N/A
Possession of weapons offences 212 876 885 836 912 940 1,044 882 915 1,033 953 N/A
Possession of weapons charges 95 345 371 344 429 371 428 381 392 384 430 N/A
Out of court disposals: common unity resolutions for drug possession offences 36 1,045 913 1,008 1,387 1,797 1,555 1,467 1,496 1,292 1,484 N/A

Summary of information

The figures in Table 1 show that since January 2021, across Project ADDER and Accelerator sites there were:

  • 5,263 OCG disruptions
  • £12.8m of cash seized
  • 35,724 arrests
  • 10,495 drug trafficking offences
  • 5,135 drug trafficking charges
  • 38,792 drug possession offences
  • 9,604 drug possession charges
  • 9,488 possession of weapons offences
  • 3,968 possession of weapons charges
  • 13,478 out of court disposals: community resolutions for drug possession offences

In addition, data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) shows that between January 2021 and March 2023, 4,966 people in drug treatment benefited from Project ADDER. From April 2023, this data is no longer captured on the NDTMS and can therefore not be reported.

Improvements to the original monitoring information (MI) data

We made a number of improvements to the way Project ADDER MI data is reported as follows (see below Table 2 which provides the original figures):

  • Data on the number of Out of Court Disposals (OOCDs) is now sourced from existing police recorded crime (PRC) outcomes data to increase the comparability of the data used for published figures. The revised PRC data covers one of the main types of OOCD known to be used within Project ADDER – community resolutions for drug possession offences.

  • The original data returned on the number of naloxone kits distributed outside of treatment services (included in Table 2 – ‘Naloxone kits distributed outside of treatment services’) contained some activity outside the scope of Project ADDER (e.g., naloxone kits distributed within treatment services). The data was reviewed retrospectively to remove activity outside of scope and revised data was published for January to March 2023 in (included in Table 2 – ‘Naloxone kits distributed outside of treatment services – revised data’). From April 2023, this data is no longer reported by Project ADDER local areas.

  • Data on safeguarding interventions by police and drug treatment interventions by outreach workers is no longer reported by Project ADDER local areas. This is due to issues with the quality and comparability of the data (e.g., the definition of a ‘safeguarding intervention’ was not consistent across areas) and lack of complete data for some areas and time periods.

  • In order to provide a better picture on law enforcement and diversion activity occurring in Project ADDER areas, data on a number of relevant police recorded crimes and outcomes have been added to the MI data.

  • Monitoring data on OCG disruptions, cash seizures and arrests remains unchanged.

Table 2: Original Project ADDER figures that were revised for the period January 2021 to March 2023[footnote 7][footnote 8]


Jan to Mar 2021 Apr to Jun 2021 July to Sep 2021 Oct to Dec 2021 Jan to Mar 2022 Apr to Jun 2022 Jul to Sep 2022 Oct to Dec 2022 Jan to Mar 2023
Out of Court Disposals 170 657 1,604 1,894 2,581 2,866 2,752 2,599 N/A
Safeguarding interventions by police 23 231 254 405 556 438 547 442 N/A
Drug treatment interventions by outreach workers 101 2,080 3,792 4,639 5,854 6,511 7,352 6,598 N/A
Naloxone kits distributed outside of treatment services[footnote 9][footnote 10] 84 512 1,256 949 1,811 2,044 2,014 2,226 N/A
Naloxone kits distributed outside of treatment services – revised data[footnote 9][footnote 10] 12 261 887 659 1,084 1,066 1,137 1,325 1,241

Summary of information

The figures in Table 2 show that since January 2021, across Project ADDER and Accelerator sites there were:

  • 15,123 out of court disposals

  • 2,896 safeguarding interventions by police

  • 36,927 drug treatment interventions by outreach workers

  • 10,896 Naloxone kits distributed outside of treatment services – original data

  • 7,672 Naloxone kits distributed outside of treatment services – revised data.

Definitions

Arrests

Includes drug possession, drug trafficking and weapons arrests.

Community resolutions

These are a non-statutory disposal and a type of OOCD, which can include elements of restorative justice. They are a method of dealing with an offender for a lower-level crime when the offender accepts responsibility for offending behaviour. In line with College of Policing guidance they ought to include an intervention with a rehabilitative and/or restorative effect.

Drug treatment intervention by outreach workers

This refers to the number of individuals not currently in treatment whom Project ADDER and Accelerator sites had meaningful contact with. Further drug treatment access involves providing specific information about access and/or motivational discussions to attempt to move an individual towards considering or actually accessing: treatment and/or provision of specific harm minimisation information (e.g., where needle exchange or naloxone providing services are); advice (e.g., safer injecting practices); resources (e.g. Naloxone itself or needle exchange items); or service information (e.g. opening hours, locations or service sites or satellites for harm minimisation services).

Naloxone kits distributed outside of treatment services

The number of naloxone kits distributed in the community (including via police).

Out of Court Disposals (OOCDs)

A method of resolving an investigation for offenders of low-level crime and anti-social behaviour, when the offender is known and admits the offence. An OOCD can only be administered by the police in limited circumstances, without having to take the matter to court.

Organised Crime Group (OCG) disruptions

A disruptive impact on the capability of the OCG, individual or vulnerability. Total includes major, moderate and minor drug OCG disruptions.

National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS)

NDTMS is an Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) dataset covering data from about 600 sites providing structured substance misuse interventions, covering every local authority in England. See here for more information on the NDTMS.

Police Recorded Crime (PRC)

PRC is a Home Office dataset covering offences committed in England and Wales. PRC Official Statistics are regularly published. See here for details of how offences are classified and counted.

Police Recorded Crime (PRC) Outcomes

Outcomes, such as charges and community resolutions, are counted by the date at which an outcome is applied. This can be a different (later) date than the time of the offence. More details on crime outcomes can be found here.

Safeguarding interventions

Total numbers referred into diversionary / safeguarding projects or pathways, aimed at vulnerable people, including those involved in county lines and criminal exploitation.

  1. Lags in data processing mean not all activity is recorded within the timeframe it took place. For example, some OCG disruptions will not be processed in time to be recorded in the latest data returned from areas to the Home Office. Areas may retrospectively update their previous data returns to account for this. Where this is the case, historic data has been updated in Table 1. ↩

  2. January to March 2021 data includes original 5 Project ADDER sites only. Data for Accelerator project areas covers the period April 2021 onwards due to later mobilisation in these sites. The increase from July to September 2021 onwards is partly due to Merseyside providing data for the first time in July 2021. Therefore, year on year comparisons for enforcement metrics should be based on data July to September 2021 onwards. ↩

  3. Organised crime group (OCG) disruptions data was revised from April 2022 onwards following a correction to the previous figures. ↩

  4. Cash seized data excludes ADDER sites in Middlesbrough, Norwich, and Wakefield due to data being unavailable from these Project ADDER sites. ↩

  5. Arrest data excludes data from London (Hackney and Tower Hamlets) from December 2022 to March 2023 due to data being unavailable from these Project ADDER sites during this period. ↩

  6. Police Recorded Crime data refers to all activity in ADDER and Accelerator areas (at Community Safety Partnership level). Data for the Norwich ADDER area site differs from Norwich Community Safety Partnership area. Due to data lags, the most recent PRC is for July to September 2023. PRC data for October to December 2023 will be published in April 2024 and provided in the next Project ADDER programme data release. ↩

  7. Lags in data processing mean not all activity is recorded within the timeframe it took place. For example, some activity will not be processed in time to be recorded in the latest data returned from areas to the Home Office. Areas may retrospectively update their previous data returns to account for this. ↩

  8. January to March 2021 data includes original 5 Project ADDER sites only. Due to this being during the initial implementation phase, not all sites were provided data throughout this period. During this time, activity will have been impacted by COVID-19 and associated lockdowns (e.g., the number of naloxone kits issued in the community will have been limited by lockdown restrictions). Data for Accelerator project areas covers the period April 2021 onwards due to later mobilisation in these sites. The increase from July to September 2021 onwards is partly due to Merseyside providing data for the first time in July 2021. Therefore, year on year comparisons for enforcement metrics should be from July-September onwards. ↩

  9. The total figure for Naloxone kits includes kits being given to the same individual more than once, for example due to kit use or loss. The figure does not reflect the number of individuals offered Naloxone, as some individuals may decline the offer of a kit due to having Naloxone in their possession already. ↩ ↩2

  10. The original data returned on the number of naloxone kits distributed outside of treatment services (included in Table 2 – ‘Naloxone kits distributed outside of treatment services’) contained some activity outside the scope of Project ADDER (e.g., naloxone kits distributed within treatment services). The data was reviewed retrospectively to remove activity outside of scope and revised data was published for January to March 2021 to January to March 2022 in (included in Table 2 – ‘Naloxone kits distributed outside of treatment services – revised data’). From April 2023, this data is no longer reported by Project ADDER local areas. ↩ ↩2

Back to top