CHIEF Minister Allan Bell has pledged to talk with Treasury about vital funding to keep the DASH helpline running - insisting he wants a ‘fair and honourable’ solution.
He gave the commitment after Douglas North MHK John Houghton tabled a question for urgent public importance in the House of Keys over the threatened closure of the confidential Drug Advice Service & Helpline.
Mr Houghton has branded a ‘disgrace’ Treasury’s decision to turn down DASH’s application for funding from the Seized Assets Fund – which he claims it will lead to the service’s imminent closure.
But Mr Bell said a comprehensive review carried out by the Department of Social Care concluded there should be one organisation responsible for all additional services.
He said DASH had been approached to see if it would extend its services to cover gambling addiction but it declined. As a result a three-year contract was awarded to the Alcohol Advisory Service, recently renamed Motiv8.
Mr Bell said funding DASH would have duplicated services.
He said 90 per cent of the charity’s operational costs had been met by the DSC until the end of August when that funding support – totalling £84,456.96 for adult services plus £25,000 for a part-time worker – was withdrawn.
At the Chief Minister’s request, funds from the Seized Assets Fund were secured as a one-off grant to keep the helpline running for six months while it explored options for a merger or fund-raising.
Unable to secure sufficient funding, DASH applied for £200,000 from Seized Assets Fund to cover its running costs for two years but Treasury turned down that application.
Mr Bell said government believed the contract with Motiv8 will more than cover those previously provided by DASH. Essential help for vulnerable members of the community would not be lost and services would be enhanced and more cost effective, he said.
But Mr Houghton described the Chief Minister’s statement as ‘quite unbelievable’ and claimed he had reneged on his commitment to support the charity. ‘He has turned his back on the wonderful work of this charity,’ he said.
Mr Bell replied that he found those comment’s insulting. ‘I have not reneged on anything,’ he insisted. ‘I have worked tirelessly over the last 12 months to try to find resources for DASH. I do recognise the work carried out by DASH.’
He said it was important that use was made of the Seized Assets Fund, which contained more than £1 million.
‘Certainly I will have another conversation with Treasury but I don’t need Mr Houghton’s help in that matter.’
Economic Development Minister John Shimmin, a trustee for Motiv8, said that in attempting to defend one charity, supporters of DASH were undermining the work of another.
Mr Bell agreed it would be helpful for Motiv8 to give a presentation to Tynwald members. ‘I want a fair and honourable solution,’ he added.
DASH director Shelly Stanley was in the public gallery to hear the exchange. Based in a discreet office in Douglas, DASH provides confidential support to drug users, including young people and their families. It has dealt with clients aged from children as young as 11 to adults in their mid 70s.