Following Dame Carol Black’s independent review of drugs, the UK Government announced £80m of one-year funding to improve harm reduction and criminal justice provision, and to support inpatient detoxification in England. This report, commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care, draws on 60 interviews with commissioners, providers, and Public Health England representatives to provide a detailed analysis of the first quarter in which funding was available. Prominent themes include: the treatment context prior to the arrival of additional funding; plans to deploy the funding; barriers to implementation (prominently including national shortages of skilled staff); identified solutions; the challenges of one-year fixed-term funding; and the sustainability of initiatives should one-year funding end.