Applicable in: England and Scotland

Drug (and Alcohol) Action Teams (D(A)ATs) bring together local agencies involved in tackling the use of drugs, including health and local authorities, police, probation, social services, education, youth and voluntary services. They work with Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, seek to provide a balance between treatment and enforcement.

In England, D(A)ATs must plan their objectives and activities, report against these through central reporting mechanisms (e.g. Treatment Plans, Annual Returns) (NTA 2002). In addition, the Home Office’s Drugs Strategy Directorate has issued standards for D(A)ATs, which set out the core activities of a D(A)AT, the tasks of the chair and co-ordinator and the joint working process of the different D(A)AT partners. They also set out the process of preparing the annual plan to provide the Home Office with details of their progress in meeting the national drug strategy targets, the implementation of the action programme (resulting from the annual plan) and performance monitoring and communication. The Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) standard for D(A)ATs defines the process necessary to bring about effective and evidence based reduction in the undesirable impact of substance misuse on society. The standard is designed to examine organisational performance and outcomes by exploring evidence of performance and possible improvements (Home Office 2002).

The DATs’ annual reports provide key information. While this is not a scientific report it delivers valuable information on drug service delivery and policy practice at local level. Every DAT in England is tasked with the reporting against a list of activities . The findings are compiled and analysed by the Home Office (in Scotland by the Scottish Executive). It was found that Communities Against Drugs money was used to fund a wide range of projects, but homelessness, regeneration and parental support remained under developed. It was also found that 47 per cent of DATs have allocated funding to work with young people (Drugs Strategy Directorate 2002).

There was also considerable regional variation in service coverage – in both drug treatment and other support services – with something of a postcode lottery taking place (Drugs Strategy Directorate 2002). Evaluation is limited and, where implemented, does not extend any further than gathering simple monitoring data (Drugs Strategy Directorate 2002).

DATs are responsible for drug services in their local area using central Government funding. DATs in England hold pooled treatment budgets, overseen by the NTA with funding from the DH and the Home Office.

Substantial extra funds have been made available through the drug treatment pooled budget. In this financial year, 2003-04, the pooled budget totals £236 million which is a £40 million (23%) uplift on 2002-03, with each DAT receiving a minimum uplift of ten per cent. The spending plans for the pooled budget for the Spending Review 2002 (2002SR) period are to invest an additional £35.7 million in 2003-04, £38.5 million in 2004-05 and £82.5 million in 2005-06.

References
Drugs Strategy Directorate (2002a). Updated Drug Strategy. Home Office. London.

Home Office (2002). The partnership standard for DATs: quality standards for managing programmes to deliver the National Drugs Strategy. Home Office. London.

NTA (National Treatment Agency) (2002). Improvement, expansion and reform: drugs misuse targets. Guidance for primary care trusts and strategic health authorities. NTA. London.

Related glossary entries
Community Safety Partnerships in Wales
Drug and Alcohol Coordination Teams in Northern Ireland
Key Performance Indicators for D(A)ATs in England