Chamber and committees

The Individual Learning Account (ILA) programme is demand-led. As such, it is the level of demand which will dictate our expenditure on ILAs in current and future years.

The proposed changes to the Individual Learning Account (ILA) programme will refine the eligibility criteria to focus on low paid, low skilled and unemployed individuals. Individuals meeting the eligibility criteria are entitled to an ILA. This will not change.

This information is currently not held centrally.

The ADP Planning and Reporting Guidance for 2012-15 asks Alcohol and Drug Partnerships to highlight any underspends and proposals for future use of such money in their ADP Reports, which will be shared with Scottish Government in July 2012.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/health/Alcohol/TandS/ADPPlanningReporting2012-15.

Membership of alcohol and drug partnerships (ADPs) is for local areas to determine. The number of ADPs who reserve a place in their membership structures for a councillor is not held centrally.

On 20 April 2009, a new joint Framework for Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) was launched, signed jointly by Scottish Government, the NHS and COSLA, for delivering action on alcohol and drugs at local level.

This framework highlights the key players in these partnerships as being NHS boards and local authorities, although engagement with other bodies and constituencies are also vital to their success.

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

On 31 January 2012, Roseanna Cunningham MSP met with the Chairs of Aberdeen City, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, and Inverclyde to discuss the issues and challenges facing ADPs following the publication of drug prevalence figures.

Officials last met ADP Chairs on 11 June 2012 at an ADP Chairs networking event. Discussion centred on resourcing and commissioning of services, the development of the Drugs Logic Model, challenging stigma, an action learning set, along with an update on key national issues.

Between October 2011 and May 2012 officials undertook a series of individual meetings with the ADPs across Scotland to discuss progress in their local areas.

The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Bill places duties on local authorities around how care and support is planned and arranged following assessments under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 and the relevant sections of the Children’s (Scotland) Act 1995. It is not expected to have a significant impact on either the operation or role of Alcohol and Drug partnerships (ADPs). However, many people who access services for issues related to problem drug or alcohol use will also be eligible for services provided through the 1968 Act and it is expected that local authorities will consider how their new duties and powers under the Bill can be used to best effect for those individuals. This may contribute to their strategic work as key partners in ADPs.

The Scottish Government has no plans at present to review the role of alcohol and drug partnerships.

The Scottish Government does not require ADPs to report to it on capacity building in their areas, as ADPs are accountable to local community planning partnerships.

The provision of prevention activity, recovery focussed treatment and support services is 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.

The Scottish Government has worked with ADPs to develop a set of core outcomes and indicators which will enable improvements in the core outcomes to be measured. The core outcomes and indicators will be supplemented by local outcomes and indicators which reflect local priorities.

An Outcomes Toolkit for Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships, was published in September 2009.

Building on this, the Scottish Government has worked with local Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) and COSLA to strengthen ADP reporting arrangements. This work seeks to draw on existing good practice of ADP reporting to their Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs), and to provide a degree of consistency across the country by identifying a set of core outcomes and core indicators which all ADPs should report on.

Seven core national drug and alcohol outcomes have been identified and formed part of the allocation letters for earmarked drug and alcohol funding for 2011-12. A full list of the core outcomes is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/health/Alcohol/TandS/ADPOutandIn.