CONTEXT FOR THE AUDITS
6. The first TAS audit covered the period 01 August 2005 to 31 March 2006. The purpose of that exercise was simply to begin the process of collecting data and to set a baseline from which to measure future progress. It was recognised that TAS was in its initial stages at that time and that it was difficult to draw any firm conclusions from the data collected. The aim of this second audit is to monitor progress made in establishing a Throughcare Addiction Service across the country.
7. It was agreed that data should be collected in the same format as for the first audit. The Multi Agency TAS Group, which has representation from the Scottish Government Community Justice Services Division, the Scottish Prison Service ( SPS), the Association of Directors of Social Work ( ADSW) and Phoenix Futures, agreed to undertake the review of the findings. Appendix A contains a list of the members represented on the Multi-Agency TAS Group.
8. It was agreed that once the data had been collected and analysed, the findings would again be fed back to local authorities/Community Justice Authorities ( CJAs), who could then circulate the results more widely. This audit provides an opportunity to take stock of, and reflect on, progress made in establishing a Throughcare Addiction Service across the country.
9. The delivery of the Throughcare Addiction Service should now also be seen in the context of the Government's Purpose, its Strategic Objectives, the Concordat between National and Local Government and the new Drugs Strategy.
The Government's Purpose
10. The Government's Purpose is "to focus government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable growth". The Government set out its Economic Strategy in November 2007 and laid out the targets that support delivery of the Government's Purpose 3.
Strategic Objectives
11. There are five Strategic Objectives in the Economic Strategy: Safer and Stronger, Healthier, Greener, Smarter, and Wealthier and Fairer. The first two of these Objectives are particularly relevant to TAS. The Safer and Stronger Objective is geared towards helping local communities flourish, becoming stronger, safer places to live, offering improved opportunities and a better quality of life. The Healthier Objective is focused on helping people to sustain and improve their health, especially in disadvantaged communities, ensuring better local and faster access to health care.
The Concordat between the National and Local Government
12. The Scottish Government and COSLA have also agreed a Concordat 4 setting
out the terms of a new relationship between national and local government and encompassing a new outcomes focused National Performance Framework. Each part of the National Framework is directed towards, and contributes to, the Government's Purpose. A central element of the new relationship is the creation of a Single Outcome Agreement between each Council and the Government based on 15 mutually agreed national outcomes and reflecting established corporate and community plan commitments across local authorities and Community Planning Partnerships.
13. The national outcomes are supported by a set of 45 national indicators and targets developed by the Government to track progress towards outcomes. The following indicators are of particular relevance to TAS:
- Decrease the estimated number of problem drug users in Scotland
- Improve the quality of the healthcare experience
- Reduce overall reconviction rates by 2 percentage points by 2011
- Reduce overall crime victimisation rates by 2 percentage points by 2011.
- Increase positive public perception of the general crime rate in local area
The National Strategy for the Management of Offenders
14. The Scottish Government published its National Strategy for the Management of Offenders in 2006 5. Its aim is to reduce the amount of reoffending and the amount of serious harm caused by those already known to the criminal justice system. The current target of the Strategy is to reduce reconviction rates by 2% by 2011, which is also one of the Concordat's indicators. The delivery of the Strategy is primarily the responsibility of the new Community Justice Authorities, local authorities and SPS. It requires these agencies to work together more effectively to deliver the key services to offenders which will lead to the overall reduction in reoffending. However, the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2005 also creates a statutory partnership with a wider range of agencies including Health Boards, which should lead to services being planned and delivered in a more consistent and accessible framework for offenders both in custody and in the community. The Strategy makes specific reference to TAS (p.17) as being a specific service area which should be promoted by both local authorities and SPS to ensure that offenders have access to addiction services on release from custody.
The Scottish Government's New Drugs Strategy
15. The Scottish Government launched its new strategy " The Road to Recovery: a New Approach to Tackling Scotland's Drug Problem6" in May 2008. Central to the strategy is a new approach to tackling problem drug use based firmly on the concept of recovery. Recovery is a process through which an individual is enabled to move-on from their problem drug use towards a drug-free life and become an active and contributing member of society. Moving to an approach that is based on recovery will mean a significant change in both the pattern of services that are commissioned and in the way that practitioners engage with individuals. The strategy sets in train a number of actions to turn recovery into a reality. Core to this is the reform of the way that drug services are planned, commissioned and delivered to place a stronger emphasis on outcomes and on recovery.
16. The recovery approach is equally applicable to the prison setting as it is to the community setting. There is however a separate section in the strategy which sets out specific action to improve the treatment of people in prison experiencing problem drug use.