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2 BACKGROUND
2.1 General
2.1.1 Alcohol and Drug Action Teams have been in existence in various forms for over 15 years and their development is described below. In addition, there are a few other organisations that have a particularly close interface with ADATs and receive funding from the Scottish Executive to support this. Their role is also described below. There are of course many other organisations that work with ADATs in various ways but the relationship they have with ADATs is not of the same order and they are not referred to here, although they may be elsewhere in the Report.
2.2 Alcohol Action Teams
2.2.1 Alcohol Misuse Co-ordinating Committees ( AMCCs) were established as a consequence of a Scottish Office circular in 1989. Their boundaries were to reflect the then local government boundaries at regional and island level. Membership of AMCCs was to include representatives from the Health Board, a number of local authority departments including Social Work, Education and Housing, Licensing Boards, Police, Prisons, the drinks industry and the voluntary sector. Their remit was:
- to assess and keep under review the nature and extent of alcohol misuse and alcohol-related problems in their area;
- to develop local strategies for the prevention of alcohol misuse and to promote their implementation, including the provision of the necessary resources by the relevant authorities or agencies;
- to asses the provision of services in their area for people with alcohol-related problems and to develop and promote the implementation of proposals for improvements in services where needed;
- to promote co-ordination between local statutory and voluntary agencies and the private sector and industry in both prevention and treatment of alcohol misuse;
- to assess the education and training needs of professionals and voluntary workers concerned with the prevention and treatment of alcohol misuse, and to develop and promote the implementation of proposals for meeting these needs;
- to work, and to share information and experience, with other Co-ordinating Committees and national agencies as appropriate;
- to co-ordinate strategic plans for alcohol misuse with those for other areas of substance misuse.
2.2.2 In 1992 the Scottish Office established a fund to support the employment of AMCC Development officers and to undertake projects or campaigns, especially those aimed at the development of minimal intervention schemes. The role of the AMCC Development Officer was to include: supporting the Committee, compiling information, monitoring and liaison.
2.2.3 The Plan for Action on Alcohol Problems published in January 2002 recommended a wider remit for AMCCs and better co-ordination with other substance misuse issues. AMCCs were required to have at least one forum or group to ensure that community, voluntary sector and individual views were heard.
2.2.4 A Scottish Executive circular in March 2002 announced the setting up of Alcohol Action Teams ( AATs) to replace Alcohol Misuse Co-ordinating Committees. The membership was to be similar to that of AMCCs and the importance of having representation at a senior level was emphasised. AATs were charged with local implementation of the Alcohol Action Plan. They were to do this by drawing up and publishing by April 2003, a local 3 year strategy. AATs were to ensure links with community planning structures.
2.3 Drug Action Teams
2.3.1 Drug Action Teams ( DATs) were established in 1995 on implementation of the report of the Ministerial Drugs Task Force. DATs were originally intended to be based on health board boundaries and were given responsibility for drawing up a strategic plan for tackling drug misuse locally and thereafter for driving and monitoring its delivery.
2.3.2 As a consequence of local government re-organisation at the same time, some of the new unitary authorities saw a need to have a DAT modelled on the local authority boundary. As a consequence, the number of DATs increased from the 15 originally envisaged to 22.
2.3.3 The Scottish Office circular of 1995 recommended that core membership would include representatives from health, social work, education, police and the voluntary sector. In addition, the prison service and Scottish Drugs Forum ( SDF) might also be members. The circular envisaged DATs as small teams of senior people at or just below chief officer level who were knowledgeable about the issues and could develop a strategic plan to tackle all elements of drug misuse - including health, social work, education and criminal justice. The responsibilities placed on the DAT were:
- to ensure that information is collected and shared to enable an assessment to be made of the extent of, and trends in, the illicit use of drugs in its area;
- to ensure that effective drug prevention measures are developed with a view to reducing both demand (through information, education and other approaches) and supply (through a rigorous enforcement policy); and that these measures are co-ordinated across the relevant agencies represented;
- to assess whether the quality and range of services for drug misusers and their families meet identified needs (including physical, psychological and social welfare needs); and to plan and initiate improvements where they do not;
- to ensure that mechanisms are in place to take account of the advice provided by the community Drugs Forum; and
- to ensure that regular evaluation and reviews are undertaken of the services and activities of all agencies working in the field with a view to improving efficiency and effectiveness.
2.3.4 All DATs were required to draw up a strategic plan to which all members of the DAT must be committed. It was to cover education and prevention, enforcement and policing, needs assessment and service provision by the Social Work Department (including criminal justice social work services) and the Health Board, the contribution which could be made by the voluntary sector and, where appropriate, any prisons dimension. Local objectives were to be set in relation to the key principles of:
- reducing the acceptability of drugs to young people by prevention and education methods which influence behaviour;
- policing activity to disrupt and arrest those dealing in illicit drugs thereby protecting the community from drug-related crime;
- developing responsive services for drug misusers (including arrangements for developing constructive alternatives to custody); and
- assisting misusers to become and remain drug-free.
2.3.5 Having established the strategic plan, the DAT was then responsible for ensuring, through its members, that the required resources were provided. DATs were also required to publish Annual Reports.
2.3.6 Funding for Drug Development Officers ( DDOs) in each DAT was made available by the then Scottish Office through Health Boards. The principal duty of the DDO was to ensure implementation of the local strategic plan, as well as to act as secretary to the DAT, liaise with local agencies to gather information and develop prevention activities and draft the Annual Report.
2.3.7 Each DAT was to be supported by a local Drugs Forum, covering the same catchment area. The role of the forum was to represent the interests of drug misusers together with their families and carers, and representatives of communities affected by drug misuse. The Chair of the Drugs Forum would, ideally, also be a member of DAT. The practice has varied. In some areas a representative from Scottish Drugs Forum ( SDF) fulfils this function.
2.3.8 The Scottish Office strategy Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership was published in 1999 and DATs were charged with a key role in delivering the strategy at local level. The strategy introduced Annual Corporate Action Plans which DATs were required to draw up to help drive local action and provide a link to the national strategy.
2.4 Alcohol and Drug Action Teams
2.4.1 Because of the links between alcohol and drug misuse and because often the same people were members of the AAT and DAT, they have merged over time to become ADATs except in Greater Glasgow and Clyde. These were entirely local decisions, albeit supported by the Scottish Executive. A few areas have also added smoking to the remit. (Throughout this report we have used the acronym ADAT as a generic title for the existing teams although we recognise that they describe themselves in a variety of ways: DAT, AAT, SADAT, JADAT, DASAT, DAAT or ADAT).
2.4.2 There are 22 ADAT areas within Scotland with many different structural and operational arrangements. Of those 22 areas, 12 are based on local authority boundaries, 6 are co-terminous with both health board and local authority and 4 are based on health board boundaries. Across Scotland, the infrastructure for alcohol issues tends to be smaller than for drugs, partly as a reflection of the disparity in funding.
2.4.3 The membership of individual ADATs has grown beyond the dozen or so people and 7 or 8 partner organisations originally envisaged. Some ADATs have over 20 people as members and there are many different structural models including separate strategy and implementation groups.
2.4.4 Funding to support the operation of ADATs, including the salaries of drug and alcohol development officers and a senior co-ordinator is provided by the Scottish Executive. Some ring fenced funding for service provision is also provided. Funding is routed through the local NHS Health Board. In 2006-7, for drug services £23.7m was provided for treatment services and £1.5m for ADAT support staff. For alcohol services, £10 million was provided for treatment and prevention services and £1 million for ADAT support staff.
2.5 Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams
2.5.1 The Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action Team ( SAADAT) is a voluntary network which aims to support ADATs by providing co-ordination between ADATs, exchanging good practice and representing ADATs at a national level. SAADAT was formed in May 2006 from the merger of the two separate co-ordinating bodies for drugs and alcohol respectively. The Association receives funding from the Scottish Executive. In 2006-07 this was £ 205,000 to cover the respective costs of the National Drug Liaison Officer and the National Alcohol Liaison Officer as well as their assistants and other associated costs. The National Liaison Officers are line managed by the respective SAADAT Vice Chairs for drugs and alcohol and their work programmes are set by the SAADAT Executive. For convenience, both National Liaison Officers are hosted in Alcohol Focus Scotland.
2.6 Scottish Drugs Forum
2.6.1 The Scottish Drugs Forum is the national non-government drugs policy and information agency working in partnership with others to co-ordinate effective responses to drug use in Scotland. SDF aims to support and represent, at both local and national levels, a wide range of interests, promoting collaborative, evidence-based responses to drug use. Various Scottish Executive departments provide core and project funding. SDF activities, which relate only to the drugs element of ADATs, include supporting drug forums, improving the interface between ADATs and service users, sitting on ADATs or ADAT sub-groups, encouraging service users to become more engaged in the issues being discussed by ADATs and representing local voluntary sector organisations. SDF is represented at SAADAT meetings.
2.7 Alcohol Focus Scotland
2.7.1 Alcohol Focus Scotland ( AFS) is Scotland's main voluntary sector body dealing with alcohol misuse. It receives core grant funding and project specific funding (for example for the ServeWise programme for responsible retailing of alcohol) from the Scottish Executive, but is wholly independent of it. AFS is represented at SAADAT meetings.
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