IN June it was reported that Bolton still has the highest number of people injecting themselves with heroin or using crack cocaine in Greater Manchester.

If you read the reports you will find there has been much achievement to drive down the figures, move people on to safer non-injecting drug use or abstinence and to save lives.

The day job of working with injecting drug users cannot be an easy one. When Public Health England released the figures it declared it challenging that we faced an ageing population now entrenched in injecting drugs.

This was a reference to hardened users approaching pensionable age. Not all of course have made that age.

People who inject drugs still die from overdose, among other things. Worryingly, many of the statistics are about injecting drug users aged between 15 and 24. Today, their whole lives ahead of them, living here in Bolton.

There has just been a really important report issued by the Home Office making it clear that out of a range of factors that could contribute to reducing crime, reducing people’s injecting drug use of heroin and crack cocaine is the major factor to address.

There is years of data showing how if someone is addicted to injecting heroin or crack cocaine many will end up illegally obtaining money to provide the funds needed to buy the drugs.

We need enough staff to work with people to end their injecting drug use. Many are public sector workers who deserve a pay rise. Some work for council-contracted companies and also deserve a pay rise.

I am minded as to how much of an ask it is by this Con-Dem government to expect Bolton Council to drive down the number of injecting drug users and prevent new addicts, even when new public health budgets are considered, David Cameron and Nick Clegg are starving our council of cash and cutting our services to the bone.

Susan Haworth Tonge Moor