This is the first report from the Drug Strategy Delivery Commission ( DSDC) - reflecting its first year of operations. The DSDC is an independent commission, established by the Scottish Government in 2009 to monitor and assess whether Scotland's national drug strategy The Road to Recovery 1 is being successfully implemented and achieving its aims.

1.1 Road to Recovery and Delivery Reform Process

The Road to Recovery was published in 2008 and describes 59 actions and expected outcomes for the Scottish Government and its partners. These included: 10 actions on Promoting Recovery; 11 on Delivering the Recovery Model; 9 on Prevention; 12 on Enforcement and 17 on Children Affected by Substance Misusing Families. The strategy aims to improve the expectations of both services dealing with substance misuse and their clients in Scotland.

In 2009, following publication of The Road to Recovery, Audit Scotland reported on the effectiveness of the current delivery system 2. In response, the Scottish Government developed a range of changes in local delivery and accountability as well as specific supports which aimed to help local systems deliver on their new objectives 3, 4. This included maintenance of the ring-fencing of funding for care and treatment services; new local arrangements - Alcohol & Drug Partnerships ( ADPs) - which aim to integrate the governance of strategic planning and delivery of services into the local Community Planning Partnerships ( CPPs); newly appointed National Support Co-ordinators and an Outcomes Toolkit to help the ADPs to improve their effectiveness. Finally a nationally-funded Scottish Drugs Recovery Consortium ( SDRC) was to be created to develop a national recovery philosophy and aid local systems in this change of emphasis. Creation of the independent Drug Strategy Delivery Commission would provide the Scottish Government with the support of an independent expert body in providing guidance, support and critical comment.