The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE'S ANNUAL REPORT ON DRUG MISUSE

COMMUNITIES

PROGRESS

Achieved. A further target for 2004 will be set shortly.

PROGRESS

The proportion of new problem drug users who reported injecting 'in the previous month' has fallen from 40% in 1999-00 to 39% in 2001-02.

PROGRESS

Achieved. This will continue to be monitored through the DAT accountability process.

PROGRESS

We have:

• provided 250,000 from recovered criminal assets to help support addiction services for the Glasgow homeless
• along with the Daily Record, supported projects worth 487,000 through the Scottish Communities Against Drugs Initiative - projects include sporting and recreational activities, education and information, family support and community safety initiatives

A recovering drug misuser uses his skills at the Gal Gael Project, Govan (funded by Scottish Communities Against Drugs)

• funded a national Family Support Conference to enable those affected by drug misuse in the family to share experiences with each other, to challenge stigma and to engage with DATs
• ensured increased user engagement in the work of DATs
• ensured increased community engagement in the work of DATs - a community representative now chairs one of the DATs
• ensured joint working between DATs and Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs) through the DAT accountability framework
• published, through the EIU:
  • A Guide to Arrest Referral; and
  • Support for Families and Carers of Drug Users (this was supported by publication of the research literature and by a series of regional events to discuss how the findings might be put into practice)
• provided funding to the SDF through Scottish Enterprise to create an Employability Team, to help DATs in raising the employability agenda
• through the SDF, undertaken an assessment and consultation exercise with community groups about their support needs
• made available limited-term, post-response advocacy support for substance misusing remand and short-term prisoners released from Scotland's prisons, helping integration back into communities in the key areas of education, employment and training, personal finance and health, with the aim of reducing recidivism and drug-related deaths
• provided 1.5 million to Scotland Against Drugs, who have:
  • provided practical advice and financial support to 198 projects, totalling 743,765, through the Community Programme since it was set up in June 1999;
  • provided funding for the Young Scot 'Original' book for S4 pupils and 'Premier' book for S1 pupils, which has circulations of 95,000 and 105,000 respectively (the Community Programme featured in Young Scot Magazine, with circulation of 675,000 focusing on youth diversionary activities);
  • informed 48 SIPs and 55 New Community Schools, as well as Communities Scotland, about the Community Programme;
  • supported 26 community projects through the Scottish Drugs Challenge Fund;
  • facilitated additional support of 380,192 from the business community and 107,662 from the public/voluntary sectors;
  • launched 'Back on the Tracks' in February 2002, an employment initiative in Bo'ness, which gives ex-drug misusers from the local community the opportunity to gain transferable work-related skills and, in turn, helps them to achieve sustainable employment; and
  • enabled 11 ex-addicts to get into full-time employment
• supported the launch of the New Opportunities Fund's 10 million better off grant programme in May 2002 aimed at attracting more people who misuse, or who have misused, drugs into community-based rehabilitation services - DATs are being asked to take the lead in developing plans for utilising this additional resource at community level (there are two application deadlines: October 2002 and July 2003, with the first projects likely to start from early 2003 for up to four years)
• provided funding of 180,000 to enable the Scottish Road Safety Campaign to produce a TV/Cinema advert about drug driving - (the advert, aimed at raising awareness of the police roadside detection procedures in relation to drug drivers, was launched in May 2002)
• provided revised guidance for local authorities on the operation of Diversion from Prosecution schemes to reflect more targeted approaches, including dealing with accused who are drug misusers
• established Scotland's second pilot Drug Court in Fife, which sat for the first time in September 2002 - (this follows the successful take up of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders in that area - see below)
• published an interim evaluation report on the Glasgow and Fife Drug Court Pilots
• published an external evaluation report on the piloting of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders in Glasgow and Fife
• rolled out Drug Treatment and Testing Orders to a further seven Sheriff Courts - these were Edinburgh, Dundee, Arbroath, Forfar, Perth, Greenock and Paisley (from December 2002)
• published an interim evaluation report on the Glasgow and Fife Drug Court Pilots
• taken a power in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill to allow the 100% funding powers for criminal justice social work to be applied to arrest referral schemes
• helped wider disadvantaged groups through the New Futures Fund (NFF), with support for 103 projects and over 5,000 vulnerable people to date
• supported over 1,800 drug misusing clients on a NFF programme (to 31 March 2002)
• introduced, through the UK-wide New Deal Programme, a Progress2Work initiative in Fife, Glasgow, Tayside and Dunbartonshire (further contracts for the scheme, which is designed to help into work clients who are disadvantaged by drug misuse, will be rolled out to other parts of Scotland next year).

THE FUTURE

We will:

• use 180,000 of recovered criminal assets to help family support groups across Scotland, including the development of a national network
• continue to build upon and strengthen working links between SIPs, DATs and Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs)
• continue to ensure that drug misuse is addressed within the wider context of area regeneration, and that communities are strengthened and protected from the fear of drug- related crime
• as part of the EIU's programme:
  • publish a further guide on arrest referral; and
  • complete, in autumn 2004, an evaluation of the Scottish Prison Service Transitional Care arrangements, which will look at the effectiveness of current arrangements in facilitating access to pre-existing community services based on the individual's assessed needs
• through the SDF:
  • support further employability developments and encourage/facilitate the mainstreaming of the New Futures Fund Initiative; and
  • work on strengthening community engagement in various ways, for example by providing practical help for community groups with constitutions, access to funding, volunteers policies and staff supervision procedures (the SDF will also support local and national networking of community groups and provide training)
• through Scotland Against Drugs:
  • continue to support community action, family support and rehabilitation programmes in local communities;
  • provide practical advice and financial support to a further 50 projects in 2003-04;
  • extend consultations with community groups through Working With What Works conferences, in collaboration with local DATS;
  • continue links with Young Scot, YouthLink Scotland, Fast Forward, Youth Scotland and other national bodies;
  • encourage and support project bids from across Scotland;
  • allocate funding of 500,000 through the Scottish Drugs Challenge Fund;
  • develop further employment initiatives on the lines of the successful Back on the Road and Back on the Tracks projects which will give ex-drug misusers the opportunity to improve their long-term employment prospects by developing a variety of transferable work-related skills; and
  • secure at least 250,000 from the private sector
• continue to inform drivers of the law on drug driving, as well as arranging for further screenings of the TV/Cinema advert highlighting police detection methods
• publish the results of an evaluation of the effectiveness of the drug driving advertising campaign
• consider extending the Fife Drug Court to Cupar during the second year of its pilot
• undertake a phased roll-out of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders based on additional funding made available through the Spending Review 2002
• in partnership with other stakeholders, establish a 'Time Out' centre for women in the criminal justice system, which will offer counselling and support services to help women to tackle causes of offending (including substance misuse)
• contribute to the establishment of arrest referral schemes through provision of contributory funding and evaluation
• continue to make Reintegrating Bridges funding available (6.5 million to 2001-04) in order to help 1,000 reforming drug misusers a year to prepare for employment and training.

« Previous | Contents | Next »