Annual ADP Survey 2024/25

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 2024/25 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 2023/24 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 the previous year’s survey. Where comparisons are possible, they have been included in the analysis presented.

The survey comprised of 51 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 gathering more detail on responses and gaining 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.

A small number of survey responses needed to be re-coded during data processing to ensure they were consistent with the other answers provided by the ADP for an individual question. For example, if an ADP described a relevant service or activity in the free‑text “Other, please specify” box but did not tick the associated “Other” option, their response was re-coded as a positive selection.

The 2024/25 survey included several new questions related to financial management. Where possible, the available data and analysis have been included here. However, there were limitations in the quality and completeness of some of this data (including inconsistent interpretation of questions). Some ADPs also noted concerns about the potential commercial sensitivity of some financial/cost data. Therefore, analysis of some of these questions has been excluded from this report.

The full 2024/25 survey is available from the supporting documents page alongside this report.

The survey was in the field between 14 April and 19 June 2025. ADPs who had not completed the survey within this timeframe were contacted by the Scottish Government Substance Use Analytical Team to ensure they has 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 confirm sign off, particularly at IJB level, prior to publication.

ADPs were encouraged to publish their own returns as part of 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 may be variation in how individual ADPs interpreted the meaning of some questions and/or response options. In particular, 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 these terms are often self-defined by services themselves. Examples of these may include recovery communities and diversionary activities. Clearer definitions for some terms are likely to develop as work in this policy area progresses. This report reflects the information as was provided in the returns submitted.

Data are self-reported by ADP lead officers and may therefore be under- or overestimated. 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

Quantitative data for this publication is available in the workbook presented alongside this report (available from the supporting documents page of the publication). Qualitative data is available on request from substanceuseanalyticalteam@gov.scot.