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2 POLICY CONTEXT
2.1 There are currently a number of policy and structural developments within Scotland which affect voluntary organisations and people working in the field of problem drug use. These developments have significant implications for SDF.
The Scottish Government Concordat
2.2 The Concordat agreed between the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( CoSLA) in November 2007, and the accompanying change to funding arrangements for local authorities announced in the Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007, has introduced fundamental changes in the relationship between central and local government in Scotland.
2.3 The Concordat provides for the Scottish Government to set the direction of policy and the over-arching outcomes, while standing further back from service delivery. This is intended to reduce bureaucracy and free up local authorities and their partners to meet the varying local needs and circumstances across Scotland.
2.4 Under the terms of the Concordat, each Community Planning Partnership ( CPP), led by its Council, agrees a Single Outcome Agreement ( SOA) with the Scottish Government. These agreements are based on the Scottish Government's set of national outcomes (underpinned by agreed national indicators), supported by specific local outcomes that reflect the priorities for each Council area. Under the new reporting system, each Council area will be required to submit a single, annual report setting out its progress against the agreed outcomes and indicators.
2.5 The Concordat has resulted in the majority of previously ring-fenced funds which relate to local authority areas of responsibility being subsumed into the core grant to Councils. (The number of separate funding streams to local government was reduced from eighty in financial year 2007/08 to fifteen in 2008/09.) Councils now have more flexibility in determining allocations to meet local needs and priorities.
2.6 The majority of funding that is available for ADATs sits within Health and remains ring-fenced for drugs and alcohol. It is the Government's intention that spending decisions should be made in partnership with ADATs (and their successor bodies) as part of the SOAs.
2.7 Under the Concordat with Co SLA, grants and other funding support for third sector organisations at local level are increasingly the responsibility of local authorities and other public bodies. However, direct grants from government can still be made in various areas as Ministers react to need and innovation.
'The Road to Recovery'
2.8 Following extensive consultation and discussion, the Scottish Government launched a new approach to tackling problem drug use in May 2008 with the publication of 'The Road to Recovery' 1. The new strategy is structured around themes of prevention, enforcement, child protection and the promotion of recovery, with a focus on partnership working at local and national levels. The next steps are set out in a cross-cutting action plan covering all relevant agencies and sectors.
2.9 The first item in 'The Road to Recovery' action plan is "to set up a drug recovery network to promote and support the concept of recovery among local partners, service providers and people with problem drug use." The Scottish Government has been working with a broad range of stakeholders to develop this concept. It is envisaged that the network will be a robust construction taking the form of a consortium, with partners making a commitment to a clear programme of enabling culture change in terms of how people with a drug problem see themselves and how they are regarded by society. The Minister for Community Safety announced plans for the proposed Scottish Drugs Recovery Consortium in April 2009:
"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."2
2.10 Effective deployment of resources will be a key element in the pursuit of the new strategy, especially in the current context of public spending constraints.
Alcohol and Drugs Delivery Reform Group
2.11 The work of the Delivery Reform Group ( DRG) is allied to the development of the new drugs strategy (and a new alcohol strategy), the Concordat and SOAs and also the report of the Stocktake of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams ( ADATs) published in 2007.
2.12 The DRG was set up by the Scottish Government in January 2008 with a remit of making proposals for the improvement of delivery arrangements. It comprised members from the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse ( SACDM) and the Scottish Ministerial Advisory Committee on Alcohol Problems.
2.13 In its report the DRG makes a number of proposals designed to enhance strategic capacity at local level, with a particular emphasis on:
- accountability
- clarity of responsibilities
- partnership
- supporting the focus on an outcomes based approach
2.14 It recommends the continuation of a specialist, dedicated partnership on alcohol and drugs at local level. To emphasise their place within community planning and also to recognise the change from current arrangements in many areas, these will be named Alcohol and Drug Partnerships ( ADPs). These changes will increase the challenge for SDF (and other national voluntary organisations) to engage at local level.
2.15 The DRG also recommends the establishment of a national support function to help ADPs achieve optimum outcomes, consisting principally of practitioners from the field working with the Scottish Government's Alcohol Misuse Team and Drugs Policy Unit.
2.16 The national support function is not expected to perform a scrutiny function. This would be the responsibility of the new integrated scrutiny body on care and the new health scrutiny body the Scottish Government proposes to establish 3.
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