Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADP) 2023/2024 Annual Survey

Data and Methodology

Survey design and data collection

The survey was sent by email to all 30 Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) in Scotland to better understand service delivery and local challenges. ADPs are responsible for developing local strategies to deliver national outcomes and commissioning services for people impacted by problem drug and alcohol use in Scotland.

The survey was designed to provide an overview of how ADPs responded to the needs of individuals in their area. Questions related to the 2023/24 financial year and were intended to reflect areas of ADP activity that are not reported elsewhere, and so do not reflect the totality of ADP work. Questions were adapted from those used in the 2022/23 survey, with updates developed in consultation with Scottish Government policy officials and evaluation leads at Public Health Scotland. These changes largely reflected refinements to make the survey easier to complete and more comprehensive, and to capture evidence relating to wider relevant development. Because of the changes made not all questions are directly comparable to last year’s survey; where comparisons are possible they have been included in the analysis presented.

The survey comprised of 44 questions and adapted the six outcomes and cross-cutting priorities of the National Mission Plan to facilitate data collection. The questions were mainly multiple choice, with a number of open text questions included in order to gather more detail on responses and gain a deeper understanding of the specific context within each ADP area. Respondents to the survey were reminded that multiple choice options available were provided for ease of completion and did not reflect expectations of what should be in place. The full 2023/24 survey is available from the supporting documents page alongside this report.

The survey was in the field between 17 April and 28 June 2024. The ADPs who had not completed the survey within this time were contacted by members of the Scottish Government Substance Use Analytical Team to ensure they had the opportunity to be included in the research. In submitting their return, ADPs were asked to obtain ADP and Integration Joint Board (IJB) level sign off. A number of ADPs were unable to provide sign off, particualrly at IJB level, prior to publication due to meetings being held outwith the timescales for reporting.

ADPs were encouraged to publish their own returns as part of the their individual annual reporting.

Limitations

The survey was designed to be able to be completed at ADP level based on ADP activities, without requiring significant input from other sources. As such, the survey does not report on activities being undertaken at service level or on the experiences of people with lived/living experience who are accessing or using treatment or support services. The survey provides high level reporting on the activities which ADPs undertake, with quantitative analysis primarily providing information on the percentage of ADPs who report their specific activities and experiences. The survey is not able to report on the breadth or coverage of provision within ADP areas, or on the quality of or outcomes from such activities.

There are a number of terminologies used in this report where definitions of what constitutes a certain service or type of support can be complex and may vary between contexts, regions and users. Some of theses terms are often self-defined by services themselves. Examples of these may include recovery communities and diversionary activities. As such, there may be slight variation in the interpretation of some questions by individual ADPs. Clearer definitions for some terms are likely to develop as work in this policy area progresses.

Data are self-reported by ADP lead officers and may therefore be under or over estimates. This is a wide ranging survey of activity related to drug and alcohol use in Scotland and it is not practically possible to validate all responses. ADPs were asked to obtain ADP and IJB level sign off – this provides some reassurance on the validity of responses submitted.

Source data

Aggregate source data for this publication is available on request from substanceuseanalyticalteam@gov.scot.

An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland

These statistics are official statistics. Official statistics are statistics that are produced by crown bodies, those acting on behalf of crown bodies, or those specified in statutory orders, as defined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Scottish Government statistics are regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

More information about Scottish Government statistics is available on the Scottish Government website.