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The key components of the Scottish Government’s alcohol strategy are the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, Changing Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action, the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Act 2010 and the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012. These are being monitored and evaluated through a programme of work, Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy (MESAS), which is being led by NHS Health Scotland in collaboration with NHS National Services Scotland Information Services Division.

The programme is delivered through a portfolio of commissioned and in-house evaluation studies. The in-house project team responsible for delivery consists of public health research specialists with expertise in evaluation, epidemiology, health economics, statistical analysis and critical appraisal and synthesis of evidence. Additional expertise is utilised as required, including external advisers where appropriate.

NHS Health Scotland is committed to providing ministers and publishing annual reports that set out key findings from the MESAS programme, including monitoring trends in consumption and alcohol-related harm. More information on MESAS can be found in the published reports:

The baseline report (first report) was published in March 2011, Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy. Setting the Scene: Theory of change and baseline picture, and can be found on the following link: http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/5072.aspx;

The second annual report, Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy 2nd Annual Report, was published in December 2012. This presents the findings of the current studies to date and can be found on the following link: http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/6182.aspx.

Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) are strategic partnerships, established in 2009 and are responsible for: developing local strategies for tackling problem alcohol and drug use and promoting recovery.

ADPs are responsible to undertake routine and on-going needs assessment of their local communities which should then inform decision-making for the provision of appropriate services for their area. This assessment of need should take into account the impact problem alcohol and drug use has on families and the need for related services to provide appropriate support.

There are a number of voluntary organisations and mutual aid groups such Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) across Scotland that support individuals in their recovery and also helps to catalyse the growth of recovery communities that support families and individuals to overcome the problems associated with problem alcohol use.

Alcohol Focus Scotland provides a search facility to identify support services throughout Scotland on their website. This is available at: http://www.alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk/getting_help/

The Scottish Government has provided funding to the Partnership Drugs Initiative (PDI) since 2001.

The PDI funds voluntary organisations delivering different projects across all 30 Alcohol and Drug Partnership areas working with families, vulnerable children and young people affected by substance misuse.

Decisions on the assessment and appropriate treatment for individuals are taken by practitioners, who take account of the needs and circumstances of each client. Their aim is to ensure that the treatment package will provide the most effective support for that individual. A comprehensive assessment is a key part of this treatment package and should be undertaken with each client to determine their individual needs and goals.

A range of support services for people affected by problem alcohol use are available across Scotland. These services help individuals to recover from the harms caused by alcohol.

The provision of prevention activity, recovery focussed treatment and support services are for each local area to consider, taking account of local needs, circumstances and resources. Responsibility is devolved to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) to commission (informed by robust needs assessment) evidence-based, person-centred and recovery-focused prevention and treatment services to meet the needs of their resident populations.

Alcohol Focus Scotland provides a search facility to identify support services throughout Scotland on their website. This is available at: http://www.alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk/getting_help/

There is not a Direct Enhanced Service (DES) for alcohol screening and brief interventions in Scotland. Alcohol Screening and Brief Interventions across Scotland are delivered across a range of settings.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-12803 on 4 March 2013, which contains details of all the Alcohol Brief Interventions carried out between 2010 and 2012 by NHS board.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

From 2013 we will monitor the provision of structured education for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes through the Scottish Diabetes Survey.

Our Diabetes Action Plan, published in 2012, fully recognises the important role that structured education can play in supporting people with diabetes to self-manage their condition.

In implementing the Action Plan we have supported the appointment of a National Diabetes Education Lead at NHS Education Scotland. This led to the development of a review process for structured education: “Assessment of Patient Education in Scotland” and “Tools for Assessment of Patient Education in Scotland”. These resources are helping to ensure that structured Education across Scotland is consistent and quality assured.

The Scottish Diabetes Group has also given funding to NHS boards, Managed Clinical Networks to support the roll out of structured education. In 2011-12 this amounted to £154,450.

<>The national Drug and Alcohol Treatment Waiting Times Database (DATWTD) gathers access information from specialist drug and alcohol treatment services to measure performance against the HEAT A11 Drug and Alcohol Treatment Waiting Times Target. The DATWTD is managed by NHS National Services Scotland Information Services Division (ISD) and related data is published on a quarterly basis. Latest figures, published in December 2012, indicate that (for July – September 2012) 7,208 entries were recorded on the database for people starting alcohol treatment during the quarter. These figures can be viewed at: http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/wtpilot/reports.htm.

This data provides an indication of numbers of people being treated for alcohol dependency as the purpose of the DATWTD is to gather information on access to treatment interventions as opposed to numbers of individuals in treatment.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials regularly engage with alcohol treatment providers via Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs). When engaging with ADPs, Scottish Government Ministers and officials cover a range of topics given the broad remit and function of ADPs.

ADPs are strategic partnerships, established in 2009 and are responsible for: developing local strategies for tackling problem alcohol and drug use and promoting recovery, based on an assessment of local needs; and, putting in place an evidence based process for agreeing how funds should be deployed with a clear focus on the outcomes that the investment will deliver. ADPs are embedded within Community Planning Partnership structures and contribute to the delivery of local Single Outcome Agreements.

While the Scottish Government provides funding for Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) via their respective health boards, the government does not performance manage them as ADPs are accountable to local Community Planning Partnerships.

On 20 April 2009 we launched a new joint Framework, signed jointly by Scottish Government, the NHS and Convention Of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), for delivering action on alcohol and drugs at local level. 30 Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) were created as a result of the framework and are anchored in Community Planning Partnerships. This document is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/03/04144703/0.

Scottish Government, COSLA and NHS Scotland issued ADP Planning and Reporting Guidance for 2012-15 to local areas on 5 April 2012. It identifies seven core outcomes which ADPs are expected to deliver on and are augmented by a set of core indicators, which are available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/Services/Alcohol/treatment/Partnership-Outcomes.

This Guidance aims to support the embedding of outcomes based planning and reporting at local level, helping ADPs to self-assess their performance (including benchmarking against other ADPs) and to articulate their contribution to their local Single Outcome Agreement, as well as contributing to a national picture of our overall progress in supporting alcohol and drug prevention, support and treatment.

Figures for the number of people dependent on alcohol in Scotland are not available. The Scottish Health Survey 2012 included, for the first time, the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT). AUDIT is a validated screening tool specifically designed to identify those with alcohol dependence. Findings from the 2012 survey will be published in September 2013.

Keep Well is an anticipatory care programme that contributes to tackling health inequalities by targeting cardiovascular disease and its risk factors in the most deprived areas of Scotland.

NHS Health Scotland manages the mainstreaming of the Keep Well programme through a co-ordinated framework of activity which helps to ensure that territorial NHS boards remain committed to Keep Well and the sharing of best practice. It has also helped implement guidance for engaging with the Keep Well core target population based on learning from earlier implementation of Keep Well. NHS boards are required to produce an annual report on their Keep Well activity.

Over 180,000 Keep Well health checks have been delivered across Scotland so far (between March 2009 and end June 2012).

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing the gap in health inequalities between deprived and affluent areas, and has committed provides funding of £11.3 million per annum over 2012-2015 for the delivery and implementation of Keep Well.