Alcohol and Drug Partnerships: delivery framework

Letter from Scottish Government and CoSLA letter on the Partnership Delivery Framework to Reduce the Use of and Harm from Alcohol and Drugs

ADP Chair

Copies to:
Chief Officer of Integration Joint Board
NHS Chief Executive
Chair Community Planning Partnerships
ADP Co-ordinators

Dear ADP Chair

1. We are pleased to inform you that the Partnership Delivery Framework to Reduce the Use of and Harm from Alcohol and Drugs has been approved by COSLA Leaders and Scottish Ministers. A copy of the Framework is included with this letter at Annex A.

2. We recognise the importance of Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) in taking forward the work to address these harms and that, as ADP Chairs, you play a pivotal role. The Partnership Delivery Framework sets out a shared ambition across Local Government and Scottish Government that local areas have the following in place:

• A strategy and clear plans to achieve local outcomes to reduce the use of and harms from alcohol and drugs.
• Transparent financial arrangements
• Clear arrangements for quality assurance and quality improvement
• Effective governance and oversight of delivery

3. Some dedicated support for the implementation of this framework will be offered for local areas.

Strategic planning

4. We are setting the expectation that all local areas should have a strategy and delivery plans in place to achieve local outcomes to reduce the use of harms from alcohol and drugs by 1st April 2020. The following new or existing activity can support this:

• An initial session with ADP Leads on developing whole systems approaches within local strategies (autumn 2019). Follow up support will be available. We would also like to highlight the Public Health Reform publication on applying a whole systems approach to reducing alcohol and drug harms^[1].
• Access to the ADP Challenge Fund to support system change administered by Corra.
• The identification and support for early adopters of whole system approaches to provide learning for Scotland
• Publication of the Health Scotland report on the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan for Rights, Respect and Recovery (November 2019). The MESAS reports set out the monitoring and evaluation plans for the Alcohol Framework^[2].
• A resource to support equality impact assessments for alcohol and drug services and strategies
• A working group to review how annual reporting can be carried out through self-assessment and review (November 2019 – Jan 2020). Self-assessment should cover key issues such as:
  • Involving those with lived experience
  • The implementation of the Partnership Delivery Framework
  • Progress against national and local benchmarks

    This work will ensure that annual reports remain in line with existing requirements.

Quality improvement

5. Dedicated support to roll out quality improvement methodology within alcohol and drug services across Scotland is under development.

Governance and oversight

6. A session for ADP Chairs on implementing the Partnership Delivery Framework (September 2019). Learning from this session and ongoing engagement with ADP Chairs and Leads will inform the development of guidance on the role of the ADP Chair for local use.

7. If you would like any further information at this stage, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Nick Smith, National Support Lead (Alcohol and Drugs), at nicholas.smith@gov.scot or 0131 244 5942.

Joe FitzPatrick
Minister for Public Health
Sport and Wellbeing

Councillor Stuart Currie
COSLA Interim Spokesperson for Health and Social Care