Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADP) 2022/23 Annual Survey

1. Introduction

The level of harms from alcohol and drugs in Scotland are high in comparison to the rest of the UK and Europe and cause avoidable damage to people’s lives, families and communities. Tackling the high level of drug related deaths in Scotland is a priority for the Scottish Government.

On 20 January 2021, the then First Minister made a statement to parliament, which set out a National Mission to reduce drug deaths and improve the lives of those affected by drugs through improvements to treatment, recovery and other support services.

Scotland’s 30 Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) bring together local partners including health boards, local authorities, police and voluntary agencies, to co-ordinate the response to substance use issues. They are responsible for commissioning and developing local strategies for tackling problem alcohol and drug use and promoting recovery, based on an assessment of local needs.

The 2019 Partnership Delivery Framework makes provision for local accountable entities to report to the Scottish Government on their monitoring and prudent application of public funds and progress made towards national outcomes. This report summarises the results and findings of the 2022/23 ADP Annual Survey returns completed as part of this commitment. To facilitate data collection and reporting, the survey adapted the National Mission’s outcomes and cross-cutting priorities. This allows the report to be read alongside the ‘National Mission annual report’, which sets out the progress made towards the National Mission Outcomes Framework, and the ‘National benchmarking report’ which sets out progress on the implementation of the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards in Scotland.