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Follow-up from evidence session on 14 September

A letter from the Minister for Drugs Policy enclosing follow up evidence from the evidence session on 14 September - 27 September 2021

Dear Convener,

I refer to your email of 15 September asking for additional information I committed to providing to the Committee at its 14 September meeting.

I committed to having information on specific services, projects and tests of change pulled together and shared with the Committee so that members and other MSPs can see what sort of services were being provided as part of the national mission in various regions. The tables at Annex A provide a breakdown by Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) area of projects funded centrally through the national mission. There is also a list of projects and tests of change set out by HSCP area on the Drug Deaths Taskforce website which provides a breakdown of where its funding is supporting services.

I also committed to provide information on the Partnership Delivery Framework between the Scottish Government and COSLA on the delivery of alcohol and drug services which provides for improved governance around Alcohol and Drug Partnerships. We are working together at the moment on actions to improve governance. The recommended actions we have now agreed with COSLA are attached as Annex B.

I hope this information will be helpful to the Committee for consideration of its future work programme.

Yours sincerely,
Angela Constance
Minister for Drugs Policy

NATIONAL MISSION: CENTRALLY-FUNDED PROJECTS, BY HSCP AREA - ANNEXE A

First Round – March 2021

 

HSCP Area	Organisation	Funding	Fund
Angus	Angus Integrated Drug & Alcohol Recovery Service	£82,160	Improvement fund
Aberdeenshire	Banchory & District Initiative Ltd	£8,000	Grassroots fund
	Advocacy North East	£49 404	Grassroots fund
Argyll & Bute	Maxie Richards Foundation	£41,046	Grassroots fund
Western Isles	Hebrides Alpha Project	£30,000	Grassroots fund
Dundee City	City Church Dundee	£12,000	Grassroots fund
	The Steeple Church, Dundee	£20,000	Grassroots fund
	Dundee Survival Group	£30,000	Grassroots fund
East Ayrshire	East Ayrshire Advocacy Services	£24,300	Grassroots fund
East Lothian	CAPS Independent Advocacy	£18,000	Grassroots fund
Edinburgh City	Bethany Christian Trust	£30,000	Improvement fund
	Cyrenians	£74,159	Improvement fund
Falkirk	Addictions Support and Counselling	£49,740	Grassroots fund
Fife	Fife Alcohol Support Service (FASS)	£99,951	Improvement fund
	NHS Fife Addiction Services	£100,000	Improvement fund
	Fife Intensive Rehabilitation and Substance Misuse Team	£42,200	Grassroots fund
Glasgow City	Church of Scotland Social Care Council (CrossReach)	£21,608	Improvement fund
	SISCO	£33,100	Improvement fund
	Glasgow City Mission	£78,957	Improvement fund
	We are With You	£100,000	Improvement fund
	Glasgow East Woman's Aid	£45,774	Grassroots fund
	North West Recovery Community	£50,000	Grassroots fund
	Street Connect	£50,000	Grassroots fund
	Minority Communities Addictions Support Service	£40,000	Grassroots fund
	South Community Recovery Network	£50,000	Grassroots fund
	North East Recovery Community	£50,000	Grassroots fund
Inverclyde	The Jericho Society	£78,000	Improvement fund
Midlothian	Midlothian Young People's Advice Service	£30,757	Grassroots fund
	Women's Aid East and Midlothian	£30,000	Grassroots fund
North Ayrshire	Ayrshire Justice Services Partnership - Drug Treatment & Testing Order Service	£55,416	Improvement fund
South Ayrshire	Blue Triangle (Glasgow) Housing Association Ltd	£42,914	Improvement fund
	Recovery Ayr	£38,000	Grassroots fund
South Lanarkshire	Liber8 Lanarkshire Ltd	£49,940	Grassroots fund
West Dunbartonshire	Alternatives	£87,500	Improvement fund
West Lothian	West Lothian Drug & Alcohol Service	£32,029	Grassroots fund
Scotland-wide	Hillcrest Futures	£64,493	Improvement fund
	Phoenix House (T/A Phoenix Futures)	£95,000	Improvement fund
	Crew 2000 Scotland	£50,000	Grassroots fund
	1st Step Development Ventures	£36,524	Grassroots fund

 

Second Round – May 2021 to date

 

HSCP Area	Organisation	Funding	Fund	What funding is delivering
Angus	Homelessness Support Service Angus Health & Social Care Partnership	£33,555	Improvement fund	Support for people at risk of homelessness
Aberdeen City	Aberdeen City Council	£52,310	Improvement fund	Support for young people in care at risk of drug/alcohol harm
	Aberdeen in Recovery (AiR)	£50,000	Improvement fund	Peer mentorship provision
Argyll & Bute	New Way	£50,000	Local Support Fund	Support for volunteer befrienders
Dundee City	Dundee Volunteer and Voluntary Action Lochee Community Hub	£40,093	Improvement fund	Improved advice and support. wraparound service
	Making Dundee Home (Dundee West Church)	£19,321	Local Support Fund	Support for people in recovery
	The Reconnection Project	£25,175	Local Support Fund	Improved recovery support
Dumfries & Galloway	Independent Living Support	£25,736	Local Support Fund	Outreach
East Ayrshire	Patchwork Recovery Community	£20,000	Local Support Fund	Support for people in recovery
	East Ayrshire Churches Homelessness Action	£15,830	Local Support Fund	Support for people who are homeless
	Recovery Enterprises Scotland	£46,288	Local Support Fund	Support for families
East Dunbartonshire	Group Recovery Aftercare Community Enterprise	£24,000	Local Support Fund	Increased support for people in recovery
East Lothian	MELD	£36,000	Improvement fund	Expansion of telephone support service
Edinburgh City	AdvoCard	£31,753	Improvement fund	Support for people in recovery
	Lothians and Edinburgh Abstinence Programme	£5,000	Improvement fund	Additional training for peer volunteers.
	Steps to Hope SCIO	£50,000	Local Support Fund	Support for people with addictions.
Fife	Restoration Fife	£30,000	Local Support Fund	Social activities for people in recovery
	Clued Up Project	£48,321	Local Support Fund	Intervention and support for young people at risk
Glasgow City	Simon Community Scotland	£80,000	Improvement fund	Training for homeless women
	Glasgow Council on Alcohol	£79,952	Improvement fund	Improved support following rehab.
	Scottish Drugs Forum	£99,803	Improvement fund	Training for Addiction Workers
	Elevate Glasgow	£90,000	Improvement fund	Employability and training support after detox
	Glasgow East Alcohol Awareness Project	£30,000	Local Support Fund	Support for people in recovery
	In Cahootz	£49,555	Local Support Fund	Support for people in recovery
	Hope Connections	£28,500	Local Support Fund	Support for men and women with addiction challenges
	Govanhill Family Support Group (Against Abuse - Drugs & Alcohol)	£10,000	Local Support Fund	Respite holidays for families
	The Gowanbank Hub CIC	£10,000	Local Support Fund	Support for people in recovery
Highland	Thurso Community Cafe	£45,500 (£9,100/year for 5 years)	Local Support Fund	Support for people in recovery
Inverclyde	Moving On (Inverclyde) Ltd	£21,470	Improvement fund	Counselling for people in recovery
	Haven Kilmacolm	£30,883	Improvement fund	Increased detox provision
	Bellville Community Garden Trust	£26,542	Local Support Fund	Skills development for people in recovery.
	Teen Challenge Strathclyde	£10,000	Local Support Fund	Outreach work
North Ayrshire	North Ayrshire Health & Social Care Partnership	£49,147	Improvement fund	Improved peer support for children and young people
	Onside Ayrshire	£26,380	Local Support Fund	Support for people in recovery
Orkney Islands	Relationships Scotland Orkney	£32,052	Improvement fund	Intensive support for individuals and families.
Renfrewshire	Youth Interventions	£35,985	Local Support Fund	Therapeutic support for young people.
	RCA Trust	£18,000	Local Support Fund	Therapeutic support for people in recovery and their families
South Ayrshire	Broken Chains	£27,600	Local Support Fund	Increasing support for people with drug use problems.
South Lanarkshire	Hamilton Citizens Advice Bureau	£71,943	Improvement fund	Advice and welfare support
Scotland-wide	Faces and Voices of Recovery UK	£59,366	Improvement fund	Peer-led advocacy support
	Medics Against Violence	£37,256	Local Support Fund	Improved support at a crisis point
	UK SMART Recovery	£45,590	Local Support Fund	Development of SMART groups for veterans
	Scottish Recovery Consortium	£48,000	Local Support Fund	Improved knowledge for people working in Recovery

 

ANNEXE B 

IMPLEMENTING THE PARTNERSHIP DELIVERY FRAMEWORK

Please find below eight recommendations that are being considered as part of the delivery of the National Drugs Mission and the implementation of Rights, Respect and Recovery in local communities. These recommendations have been informed through engagement with local Alcohol and Drug Partnership officers and COSLA membership.

ACTION 1: Implement the Partnership Delivery Framework which underpins ADP governance

MEASURABLE PERFORMANCE: Recommendation 1 – We will implement a Quality Assurance process to support ADP performance against the Partnership Delivery Framework, Rights, Respect and Recovery and local delivery of Mission priorities. The assessment process will be a combination of local self-assessment, ADP peer-to-peer assessment and external validation. An external agency will be commissioned to validate the assessment process. The assessment process will be in line with other national assessment processes, for instance as utilised by the Care Inspectorate and Health Improvement Scotland.  We will replace the current ADP Annual Report format with a self-assessment framework. We will facilitate new alliances and synergies between clusters of ADPs facing similar challenges to support the sharing of good practice and innovation. We will seek assurance and ensure that there is specific Improvement Methodology Training available to ADPs locally and nationally and we will support progress towards Whole System Approaches to drug and alcohol issues.

STANDARDISE AND IMPROVE PLANNING: Recommendation 2 – We will increase the focus on forward planning and The Scottish Government will, in partnership, develop engage and supply an Annual Delivery Plan format and require local ADPs to submit an Annual Delivery Plan in December each year; the Scottish Government will establish a group that will provide the Mission Implementation Group assurance that local Annual Delivery Plans are in line with national priorities; evidenced based; meet local needs based on gaps identified in the self-assessment. Development of Recommendations 1 and 2 will take cognisance of and seek to support local reporting requirements to Integration Boards and Community Planning Partnerships.

STANDARDISE GOVERNANCE: Recommendation 3 – We will require ADP to have a Service Level Agreement (SLA) specifying local membership and partner contributions committed to delivering the Partnership Delivery Framework and Mission priorities. The SLA will detail investment of direct resource, local financial investments and “in kind” resources and detail cross-system prioritisation and responsibilities within, for example, Health and Social Care Partnerships; Children’s Services Boards, Community Justice Partnerships and Community Planning Partnerships to be deployed to implement the Annual Delivery Plan; outcomes to be achieved by providers; request senior accountable officers to submit to the Scottish Government via their ADP an audit of direct, indirect and in kind resources directed to the local delivery of the Mission; The SLA will specify the relationship between the ADP and the IJB and will specify how decisions and directions from the IJB to services outwith IJB scope e.g. children’s services, police, housing will be issued; SLA will specify how governance arrangements are supported to ensure resources are deployed, at pace, to support the Mission

ACTION 2: Strengthen existing approaches to ADP governance including annual reports and approaches to planning

STRENGTHEN RESPONSIBILITY: Recommendation 4 – we will specify the relationship between ADPs and senior accountable officers, and specifically, the relationship between ADPs and Public Protection arrangements in local areas ensuring that there is clear responsibility for reducing substance use mortality and harm that sits with local Chief Officers Groups. We will specify that the HSCP Chief Finance Officer (CFO) is required to sit on the ADP and provide assurance regarding funding and require service underspends to be reinvested / carried forward into ADP strategy. We will require the CFO to provide routine financial reporting to ADPs meetings and provide the Scottish Government with an annual financial report as part of the Self-Assessment Process in Recommendation 1. The above will be included in an Annexe to the Partnership Delivery Framework.

STANDARDISE OUTCOMES: Recommendation 5 - Develop a menu of evidenced based standardised outcome measures to support and underpin the evaluation of Rights, Respect & Recovery and the National Mission; in addition to establishing standardise national outcomes we will support local areas to develop local outcome measures in a standardise format and share cross system learning. Outcomes will support local and national performance reporting requirements.

ACTION 3: Establish and test formal arrangements to enable ADPs to effectively quality assurance and improve services

ESTABLISH ACCOUNTABILITY FOR TARGETS: Recommendation 6 - with publication of Medication Assisted Treatment standards; forthcoming UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment; consideration being given to the establishment of a Mission Target/s, we will ensure that the appropriate Chief Officer/s responsible for the relevant system, work with ADPs and are accountable for the delivery of any targets / expectations for delivery. This will bring a whole system approach and ensure targets are appropriately reflected in higher level strategic planning, priorities and roles.

STANDARDISE AND IMPROVE NEEDS ASSESSMENT: Recommendation 7 - we will ensure Public Health Scotland and local NHS Public Health Departments work together to supply ADPs with a standardised annual needs assessment in November each year to inform their Annual Delivery Plan and National Priorities. The format of the needs assessment will be standardised so national comparison is achievable; local NHS Public Health Departments will work with local Community Planning partners to also further identify unmet needs.

ACTION 4: Strengthen the relationship between ADPs and the Scottish Government

REAFFIRM COMMITMENT TO LOCAL ADPS: Recommendation 8 – seek to strengthen the relationship at national and local levels across public sector, including the Scottish Government, and demonstrate commitment to local strategic planning, local co-production and service delivery.

Promote a whole system approach at a national level to alcohol and drug issues and the key role of ADPs. Seek to ensure that frontline workers (public and third sector services equally; doctors, nurses, social workers, care workers, volunteers; psychologists etc) and all staff committed to improving the harms of drug and alcohol issues are equally valued and their contribution is recognised. Support efforts to ensure to ensure that the alcohol and drug sector is a modern, inclusive, dynamic and exciting place to work. Seek to highlight the importance of the National Mission and the need to deliver improvements at pace nationally and locally. We will engage with local areas and seek assurance that adequate resources are in place to support Alcohol and Drug Partnerships and local delivery of national priorities.

 In summary:

ADPs are asked to:

 

• Replace Annual Report with Self-Assessment;
• Forward plan in December and submit proposed actions and outcomes;
• Have in place a Service level Agreement specifying inputs and outputs from members;
• Work in partnership with peer ADPs.

Partner organisations are asked to:

 

• Specify in an SLA direct, indirect and in kind resources supporting ADP delivery plan are in place, available and deployed at pace (All ADP partners);
• Produce an annual standardised needs assessment;
• Articulate Public Protection arrangements to reduce substance use mortality;
• Chief Officers Groups to take responsibility for the reduction of substance use mortality;
• Chief Finance Officers will produce an annual finance report and ensure funding is carried forward to support ADP delivery plan.

Scottish Government / COSLA are asked to:

 

• Develop in partnership a Self-Assessment tool for ADPs;
• Commission an external agency to undertake validation of the ADP self-assessment process;
• Develop in partnership a Delivery Plan tool for ADPs;
• Develop in partnership a Service Level Agreement format for ADPs;
• Develop standardised outcomes format;
• Establish a Mission Scrutiny Group;
• Facilitate peer networks of ADPs to support Self-Assessment;
• Provide elements required for ADPs to develop an annual plan in December each year.