Scottish Government
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Drug and alcohol services
Alcohol & Drug Partnerships (ADPs) will be set up for every local council area to transform the provision of services to tackle substance misuse.
The Partnerships are at the heart of a landmark framework agreement between the Scottish Government, councils and the NHS, signed by Ministers and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) today at a national conference on service delivery.
Replacing the current model of alcohol & drug action teams, they will be brought into the community planning process for each local authority area, including decision-making and accountability systems such as Single Outcome Agreements and NHS performance management.
Each ADP will develop and implement a local alcohol and drugs strategy to reduce the numbers of people with substance misuse problems. The strategies will ensure all relevant partners play their part, better identify local needs and ensure investment is focused on achieving agreed outcomes.
Minister for Community Safety Fergus Ewing said: "The national drugs strategy and the alcohol framework provide a clear plan to tackle the damage that substance misuse has caused to too many of our people. The record investment in both drug and alcohol services must be better targeted to turn around those lives.
"Building on the work of an expert group and aided by the recent Audit Scotland report, the framework represents a significant and positive change in how substance misuse will be tackled locally.
"By clarifying roles, responsibilities and accountability arrangements between partners, we can work more effectively to ensure the most appropriate services are in place at the right time to help those struggling with drug and alcohol problems to recover and live full, rewarding lives."
Mr Ewing also unveiled plans to set up a delivery commission to oversee the implementation of the national drugs strategy, identify emerging challenges and helping drive forward the necessary reforms.
With an independent chair and expert membership representing NHS boards, clinicians, local authorities, police, voluntary sector and other interests, it will operate at arms length from government, in contrast to the ministerial advisory committee it will replace.
Mr Ewing also announced plans for a Scottish Drugs Recovery Consortium - a charitable trust bringing together key partners from the voluntary, public and academic field to promote and assist the greater focus on recovery - among services providers, workforce and the public.
"The Consortium can act as a beacon in promoting recovery across Scotland, bringing together and offering support, training and advice to communities, professionals and individuals seeking recovery," he added.
Minister for Public Health Shona Robison said: "Alcohol and drug misuse blights the lives of individuals, families and communities.
"Audit Scotland's recent report correctly identified that in terms of the number of people affected, alcohol misuse is an even bigger problem than drug addiction and costs Scotland £2.25 billion per year. It's a health, social and economic issue we must get to grips with.
"We have already boosted spending to tackle alcohol misuse by 230 per cent to £120 million over three years and launched our radical Alcohol Framework for Action to address the root causes of the problem.
"It is vital that we maximise the impact of this investment through the delivery of effective services for people with alcohol problems. The new Alcohol and Drug Partnerships provide us with the means to do this.
"Through improved partnership working, a clear focus on achieving real outcomes for individuals, and robust accountability through NHS performance management arrangements - including HEAT targets on drugs and alcohol - we can make sure that people who need help are identified sooner and directed towards the right services, so that they can overcome their problems and get their lives back together.
"No-one with a substance misuse problem should be written off: Recovery is always possible and we have a responsibility to ensure the strongest possible systems are in place to enable that to happen."
COSLA Health & Wellbeing spokesman Councillor Ronnie McColl added:
"I'm pleased to sign the framework today on behalf of COSLA.
"I look forward to it marking a step-change in our work to combat the misery that alcohol and drug misuse brings to individuals, families and communities and hope that it will command sustained, cross party, political support."
The Scottish Government will work to ensure Single Outcome Agreements give appropriate emphasis to reducing substance misuse, including relevant, robust indicators to measure outcomes. NHS performance management will also be used, including HEAT targets, which for the first time (from April 2010) will include one to reduce drug treatment waiting times. The Government is also examining the scope to extend the target to alcohol services.
The national drugs strategy, 'The Road to Recovery: a New Approach to Tackling Scotland's Drug Problem' was launched in May 2008, and endorsed by Parliament the following month. Around £94 million is being invested in drug treatment services over three years (a 14 per cent increase in funding by 2010-11) while national support co-ordinators are being recruited to promote good practice across Scotland.
On March 2, 2009, the Scottish Government published 'Changing Scotland's Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action'.
Mr Ewing wrote to the Auditor General for Scotland in December 2007 asking that Audit Scotland investigate the scale and effectiveness of expenditure on treatment services and other interventions. The resulting report was published in March.
A Delivery Reform Group, formed by members of key advisory committees was asked by Ministers to propose a new delivery framework for action on alcohol and drugs. The group submitted its report earlier this year and this was also published in March.
Further details of new Drugs Strategy Delivery Commission, to replace the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse (SACDM), and of the proposed Scottish Drugs Recovery Consortium will be announced in the coming months.
Related Information
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/law/Drugs-Strategy
