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The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse has vehemently denied rumours that its future could be in jeopardy.

Rumours about the NTA came to light in a document released by Alcohol Concern, in response to last month's alcohol harm reduction strategy, which claimed that the NTAwas under review.

The document said: "Rumour ranges from the confident assertion that the NTA is not long for this world, that it is about to be absorbed into the Home Office, or that it will remain as it is."


It added that the NTA had always said that it would take on more responsibility for alcohol if offered sufficient resources. However, the alcohol harm reduction strategy had not given responsibility for the performance management of its alcohol treatment services to the NTA, despite mentioning the agency.

"We expect that the ultimate decision as to whether NTA takes [responsibility for] alcohol more fully will fall out from the more general review of the NTA," the Alcohol Concern document said.

The NTA has since contacted Alcohol Concern, which has now removed many of the relevant comments from the document on its website.

The NTA insisted that no review was being carried out, but acknowledged that the prime minister's strategy unit was looking at drugs policy overall, including the NTA. Eric Appleby, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said that there had been "persistent rumours" that the NTA had been under review.


"From our perspective, what's crucial is to get some clarity about the NTA's role regarding alcohol so that we can get on with the business of helping people with drink problems and end the uncertainty that has been blighting alcohol services at local and national level," he said.

The government created the NTA in 2001 as the first body to oversee the development of drug treatment services at an England-wide level.

Its aim is to double the number of people in effective treatment from 100,000 in 1998 to 200,000 in 2008 and to improve the availability and effectiveness of drug misuse treatment.