Alcohol and drugs: partnership delivery framework - 2026

1. Context

1.1 This Partnership Delivery Framework (PDF)

This document details the partnership arrangements needed to reduce the use of and harms from alcohol and drugs. The purpose of this framework is to ensure that all partners have a clear understanding of accountability arrangements, their responsibilities and duties within the framework, and some of the higher-level practices necessary, to achieve agreed and shared outcomes.

This new PDF is designed to be consistent with, and to build directly upon:

• The Verity House Agreement between Scottish Ministers and COSLA to work together in partnership;
• The Scottish Government’s (SGs) strategic aims and National Performance Framework;
• The existing statutory reporting and performance arrangements, including NHS Annual Delivery Planning and Integration Authority (IA) performance reporting under the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014; Scottish Police Authority monitoring and reporting; etc.;
• Statutory duties for community planning, built around a purpose that local public services work together and with community bodies to improve outcomes and tackle inequalities;
• The Charter of Rights for People Affected by Substance Use which was launched in 2024 by the National Collaborative and supported by the SG and COSLA Leaders;
• The Population Health Framework, which sets out SG's and COSLA’s long-term collective approach to improving Scotland's health and reducing health inequalities for the next decade through an emphasis on prevention;
• The Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework, which highlights the shared ambition between the SG and COSLA to ensure people of all ages are able to live well, with the right support in the right setting, and to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives;
• Preventing Harm, Promoting Recovery: Scotland’s Alcohol & Drugs Strategic Plan; and
• The National Service Specification for the alcohol and drugs treatment and recovery system.

This PDF supersedes the following documents in full:

• A new Framework for Local Partnerships for Alcohol and Drugs (2009);
• Supporting the Development of Scotland’s Alcohol and Drug Workforce (2010);
• Updated Guidance for Alcohol and Drug Partnerships on Planning and Reporting Arrangements 2015-18 (2014); and
• Partnership Delivery Framework (2019).

The provisions contained herein represent the current agreed expectations and commitments of signatory and endorsing partners.

This framework has been formally approved by Scottish Ministers and COSLA Leaders, demonstrating a clear commitment from both national and local government to work collaboratively, with the joint aim of reducing the levels of drug and alcohol related harm in Scotland. To achieve this aim, ongoing collaboration will be required alongside Community Planning Partnerships (CPP), Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships (ADPs), Integration Authorities (IAs), NHS Boards, Local Authorities (LAs), Police Scotland, Third Sector and other Community Partners. All partners are encouraged to have regard to this PDF within their existing statutory governance arrangements.

1.2 Background and Evolution of the System

This section provides brief contextual background to the development of ADPs and the current strategic landscape. It is not intended as a comprehensive policy history.

1.2.1 Origin and Purpose of ADPs

ADPs were established to provide a coordinated, multi-agency approach to addressing alcohol- and drug-related harm at a local level. Their creation recognised that no single organisation can prevent harm, deliver treatment and recovery services, nor address the wider social determinants of substance use in isolation.

ADPs bring together key statutory partners – including Local Authorities (LAs), Territorial Health Boards, Integration Authorities (IAs), Police Scotland, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and Third Sector organisations – alongside people with lived and living experience (LLE). Their core purpose is to consider, plan, monitor, and improve local alcohol and drug services in line with evidence, national policy, statutory duties, and local need.

From their inception, ADPs have been rooted in partnership working, and collective and collaborative leadership. They operate within broader community planning and public protection structures and are expected to align their work with wider local outcomes relating to health, wellbeing and inequalities.

1.2.2 Integration and Governance Context

The integration of health and social care through the Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 strengthened the requirement for coordinated planning and delivery of services across organisational boundaries. In most areas, ADPs operate within, or report to, IAs as part of integrated governance arrangements. In all cases, they sit within the wider local public service landscape and are accountable through established lines of democratic and statutory oversight.

Governance arrangements vary across Scotland to reflect local structures. However, regardless of configuration, ADPs are expected to demonstrate clear lines of accountability, transparent decision-making, and effective performance oversight. This includes clarity about how strategic priorities are translated into commissioned services, how resources are deployed, and how outcomes are monitored and improved.

1.2.3 Current Strategic Landscape

ADPs operate within a national framework comprising:

• The National Charter of Rights for People Affected by Substance Use, which sets out the rights of people affected by alcohol and drugs and the expectations placed on services and partners in upholding those rights, building on;
• The National Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan, which sets the overarching vision, aims and outcomes;
• The National Specification for Drug and Alcohol Services, which defines what services and pathways should be available; and
• The Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards, which establish nationally mandated standards to ensure timely, evidence-informed and consistent access to medication-assisted treatment and related support.

Within this architecture, this PDF sets out who is responsible for designing, delivering, supporting and scrutinising local systems. It clarifies roles, relationships and accountability across partners, and describes how ADPs function within the wider system of national and local governance.

The remainder of this PDF therefore focuses on the governance and partnership arrangements through which national strategic commitments are considered and delivered locally, and how partners assure improvement in outcomes for individuals, families and communities.

1.3 Preventing Harm, Promoting Recovery: Scotland’s Alcohol & Drugs Strategic Plan

This PDF sits alongside the publication of Preventing Harm, Promoting Recovery: Scotland’s Alcohol & Drugs Strategic Plan, which follows the end of the National Mission on Drugs and sets out our long-term ambition to address the complex challenges associated with alcohol and drugs.

Alcohol and drugs related harm remains very high within our communities with people living in the most deprived areas continuing to be significantly disproportionately affected. Many people with alcohol and drug issues face overlapping challenges including homelessness, experience of domestic abuse, adverse childhood experiences, and involvement with the justice system. Hundreds of children lose a parent to a drug death every year. There continues to be changing trends to the ways that substances are consumed. Polysubstance use, increasing prevalence of cocaine use, contaminated drug markets, and the emergence and unpredictable nature of toxic synthetic substances has increased the risk of overdose and death for users. Additionally, Scotland continues to have the highest rate of alcohol-specific deaths within the UK constituent countries.

The SG’s National Mission, launched in 2021, marked a step change in investment and commitment to address Scotland’s drug-related public health crisis, driving major progress in treatment standards, rehab capacity, and harm reduction facilities.

The new Strategic Plan, supported by this PDF, reiterates this commitment and outlines our outcomes and priorities alongside immediate commitments that will lay the foundation for lasting change and help achieve our long-term outcomes. At its heart is a renewed pledge to ensure that individuals and families affected by alcohol or drugs receive person-centred care, delivered with dignity, respect, and compassion. It is grounded in a human rights-based approach that recognises everyone’s right to health, equality, and participation in decisions affecting their lives.

The Strategic Plan will also be supported by a new National Specification that defines the minimum expected components of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services across Scotland to ensure equity, consistency, and quality in service provision, while allowing for local flexibility based on need.

The Strategic Plan, like its predecessors, recognises the need for a whole systems, cross-policy, approach to tackling the harms of alcohol and drugs and recognises the need for co-ordination with a wide range of stakeholders.

The Plan aligns with the broader approach and ambitions set out in the Public Service Reform Strategy, Population Health Framework, and Service Renewal Framework, which are central to driving whole-system change across public services, including health and social care, housing, education, and justice.

Self-Assessment Checklist: Context and Induction

Individuals and organisations noted as partners have a clear understanding of the historical development and policy context of current alcohol and drugs policy and this PDF, including recognition of many underlying and evolving social, health, and systemic challenges impacting people’s recovery journeys.

There are means in place locally and within the Alcohol and Drugs Partnership (ADP), to ensure that partners are appropriately inducted and informed of the context within which we are collectively attempting to deliver improved holistic support to people affected by problematic use of alcohol and drugs.

To Note: These Self-Assessment Checklist boxes are highlighted throughout the sections of this Partnership Delivery Framework (PDF), and collated in Annex A. The reflective questions contained in these checklists are intended to support self-evaluation and improvement. They do not create new statutory duties or override existing governance responsibilities.