To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are being made for the distribution of the new resources for tackling drug misuse announced in September 2000.
The Executive announced in September 2000 a £100 million package of new expenditure on drug misuse spread over three years from 2001-02 to supplement the significant amounts already being spent tackling the problem. Since then we have consulted extensively on how the extra resources should be deployed. We have also taken account of the Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee's recent report on its
Inquiry into Drug Misuse and Deprived Communities. In particular we have noted the committee's views on the significant links between deprivation and drug misuse. The Executive will respond fully to the report shortly.
The Parliament endorsed Scotland's drugs strategy, Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership, in January 2000. Since then the Executive and our partners have taken a number of significant steps. These include publication in May last year of the Executive's Drugs Action Plan, and in December the launch of the first national targets for drug misuse. We published in October 2000 a review showing that current expenditure on drugs related programmes was over £140 million, with additional identifiable expenditure taking the cost of dealing with drug misuse to over £330 million.
Drug Action Teams (DATs) have a vital role in bringing together all the agencies within a locality to deliver joined-up services addressing drug misuse in line with national objectives and targets and locally identified need. DATs will therefore require to "sign off" jointly agreed plans for the new resources, in combination with existing resources, whether they are directed to health boards, local authorities, Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs) or other agencies. The three-year drugs budget will allow sensible long-term planning without the uncertainties of the past. DATs and the spending agencies will be expected to ensure that the extra resources are deployed for new and expanding drug services, and not used to fund existing drugs work.
The Executive requires DATs to be accountable for plans to use both new and existing resources. Plans must focus on the outcomes to be achieved. There will be further work on the feasibility of identifying in detail all the resources being devoted locally to addressing drug misuse.
These arrangements are set out in a package of information and guidance being issued to the DATs and agencies today. This includes new guidance on priorities and joint planning and commissioning. The complete package issued to the DATs is available in SPICe and on the Drug Misuse in Scotland website. It includes a table showing the sums involved, distribution arrangements, accountability mechanisms and what we have done to reflect the problems of deprived communities. The key points about what we want to achieve, for individual elements of the package in this distribution for the three-year period, are set out below.
Treatment and rehabilitation are at the core of our efforts because without these services we will be unable to break the cycle of misuse which leads to the many other problems associated with drugs. That is why we have committed an extra £10 million for treatment services, and £21 million for rehabilitation over the next three years. We expect expenditure by health boards on treatment to increase those in contact with services for the first time by 50% to 16,500 by 2004. We are today notifying revised distribution arrangements, providing links with deprivation and need, for both new and existing treatment resources.Most of the £21 million additional funding for rehabilitation is being distributed to councils as new money within the local government financial settlement. Each council must ensure that the additional provision it receives under the package is spent on drug rehabilitation over and above its existing spend on substance misuse services. We recognise that this significant expansion of services will stretch the capacity of the statutory and voluntary agencies to cope. We are therefore setting aside provision to help meet the training needs of the additional staff which will be required.The £100 million funding package also reflected the priority we attach to treatment and rehabilitation in prisons. When we came into office we undertook to tackle the prison drugs problem rigorously, and the £10 million new resources allocated to the Scottish Prison Service will enable them to make a significant increase in their treatment and throughcare provision.Training and employment bridges linked into treatment and rehabilitation in both the communities and prisons are vital because we know that the vast majority of problem drug misusers - over 80% - are unemployed. With the £6.5 million made available in the package we aim to assist 1,000 reforming drug misusers a year to prepare for training and employment. The funding will be channelled through Scottish Enterprise and the Highland and Islands Enterprise Board as the main focus will be on the New Futures Fund, which they run in their areas.
Our criminal justice interventions have included piloting Drug Testing and Treatment Orders and action on drug courts. This work continues with the drugs spending package and we have provided £9.5 million over the next three years for community disposals to help drug-related offenders break their cycle of drug dependency and crime. The funds will be distributed by the Justice Department through the local authorities under the 100% funding arrangements for criminal justice social work.
Our extra investment of £21 million for children, young people and families over the next three years will target key areas of work with young people. Some £18 million of the extra funding will be administered as part of the Children's Change Fund announced last November. The programmes or projects eligible for support through the fund will cover the full range of prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and community education approaches within the drugs strategy. The indicative allocations to local authorities take account of deprivation factors affecting children and young people. All applications must have the support of the local Drug Action Team. £4 million of the £18 million will be available from this April onwards. There will also be £1 million available to support diversionary activities aimed at combating youth crime.
The remaining £3 million of this extra funding will support implementation of the recommendations of the School Drug Safety Team. This will include the development of further teacher training to meet the Executive's commitment to ensuring that all children receive effective drug education.
Over three years, £6.3 million is being provided for public awareness initiatives at both local and national level. There will be consultation to ensure that these resources are used to provide consistent and effective information about drugs for both the general public and for key target groups such as young people.
Social Inclusion Partnerships are in areas with particular levels of deprivation and have already received £2 million for local drug misuse work. They will now be given a further £5 million. The funding therefore directly addresses the links between deprivation and drug misuse. DATS and SIPs will work together on joint spending plans.
An important element in the drugs strategy is the need to ensure that efforts in the field are supported by good quality research and this will be supported by the £2 million provided in the drugs spending package.
We want to see DATs properly equipped for the key tasks they face in implementing the drugs strategy. We are therefore providing funding to them from the £3.3 million we have made available for enhanced information and support for strategy implementation.
We know that cracking down on the dealers is of vital importance to our communities. We have already made it clear that the funding of the new Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency will continue after the initial two-year funding period until 2003-04.
But we will not rely on enforcement or any other single approach alone. With this package of measures we are continuing our balanced strategy combining action against the dealers with comprehensive measures embracing treatment, education and rehabilitation leading to new opportunities for former drug misusers.With this unprecedented package of new expenditure the Executive is backing the Drug Action Teams, agencies and, very importantly, our communities in their efforts to tackle Scotland's drug problems together. We now look to DATs and the agencies to ensure that these resources bring tangible benefits to those who misuse drugs and those suffering the wider effects in our communities, not least in hard pressed deprived communities.
