Question reference: S6O-00893
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 9 March 2022
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Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 March 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of calls from Audit Scotland to establish a clear plan to increase transparency around spending on drug and alcohol services.
Answer
I welcome Audit Scotland’s review into drug and alcohol services and their recommendations. We agree that more can be done to improve the accessibility and transparency of funding and how it is used.
Currently information on funding allocation is available through various publications including published budgets and I also report to Parliament regularly outlining our progress and funding decisions. We have also recently agreed on eight recommendations with COSLA to implement the Partnership Delivery Framework which underpins the governance of Alcohol and Drug Partnerships, this includes a recommendation requiring Health and Social Care Partnership Chief Finance Officers to be represented at the ADP and provide assurance regarding funding for alcohol and drug services including clear financial reporting. In addition, Public Health Scotland have been tasked with introducing new monitoring to track both the number of and investment in residential rehab placements by ADPs.