What arrangements are being made for the distribution of the new resources for tackling drug misuse announced in September 2000.

The Executive announced in September 2000 a £100 million package of new expenditure on drug misuse spread over three years from 2001-02 to supplement the significant amounts already being spent tackling the problem. Since then we have consulted extensively on how the extra resources should be deployed. We have also taken account of the Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee's recent report on its Inquiry into Drug Misuse and Deprived Communities. In particular we have noted the committee's views on the significant links between deprivation and drug misuse. The Executive will respond fully to the report shortly.The Parliament endorsed Scotland's drugs strategy, Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership, in January 2000. Since then the Executive and our partners have taken a number of significant steps. These include publication in May last year of the Executive's Drugs Action Plan, and in December the launch of the first national targets for drug misuse. We published in October 2000 a review showing that current expenditure on drugs related programmes was over £140 million, with additional identifiable expenditure taking the cost of dealing with drug misuse to over £330 million.Drug Action Teams (DATs) have a vital role in bringing together all the agencies within a locality to deliver joined-up services addressing drug misuse in line with national objectives and targets and locally identified need. DATs will therefore require to "sign off" jointly agreed plans for the new resources, in combination with existing resources, whether they are directed to health boards, local authorities, Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs) or other agencies. The three-year drugs budget will allow sensible long-term planning without the uncertainties of the past. DATs and the spending agencies will be expected to ensure that the extra resources are deployed for new and expanding drug services, and not used to fund existing drugs work.The Executive requires DATs to be accountable for plans to use both new and existing resources. Plans must focus on the outcomes to be achieved. There will be further work on the feasibility of identifying in detail all the resources being devoted locally to addressing drug misuse.These arrangements are set out in a package of information and guidance being issued to the DATs and agencies today. This includes new guidance on priorities and joint planning and commissioning. The complete package issued to the DATs is available in SPICe and on the Drug Misuse in Scotland website. It includes a table showing the sums involved, distribution arrangements, accountability mechanisms and what we have done to reflect the problems of deprived communities. The key points about what we want to achieve, for individual elements of the package in this distribution for the three-year period, are set out below.Treatment and rehabilitation are at the core of our efforts because without these services we will be unable to break the cycle of misuse which leads to the many other problems associated with drugs. That is why we have committed an extra £10 million for treatment services, and £21 million for rehabilitation over the next three years. We expect expenditure by health boards on treatment to increase those in contact with services for the first time by 50% to 16,500 by 2004. We are today notifying revised distribution arrangements, providing links with deprivation and need, for both new and existing treatment resources.Most of the £21 million additional funding for rehabilitation is being distributed to councils as new money within the local government financial settlement. Each council must ensure that the additional provision it receives under the package is spent on drug rehabilitation over and above its existing spend on substance