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arresting a 74-year old woman standing silently in a street, that’s some
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Another day, another report, from another quango #ScotlandToday
Me winning friends and influencing people in the addiction industry again. Another day and another report from another @Scotgov quango @P_H_S_Official about its failing system. @JohnSwinney
Introduction
For nearly two decades, the same criticisms of Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) or ADATS (alcohol & Drug Action Teams) as they used to be known have persisted: I know I used to work as a co-ordinter for one. The criticisms have always been they lack power, they add an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy, and they serve as scapegoats for national and local government failures in drug policy. The 2024 ADP Coordinators Survey confirms that nothing has changed—ADPs are still toothless entities caught between an ineffective national strategy and disengaged local statutory bodies.
Instead of tinkering with governance structures, increasing reporting requirements, or throwing more money at ADP support teams, we should ask the real question: Why do ADPs even exist?
ADPs: A Bureaucratic Distraction with No Real Power
ADPs Have No Authority, Yet Are Expected to Deliver Results
ADPs do not control funding, cannot enforce policy, and have no statutory power, yet they are held responsible for drug-related outcomes.
35% of ADP coordinators said they cannot hold local partners accountable, making their strategic role largely symbolic.
Statutory bodies—NHS Health Boards, Local Authorities, and IJBs—ignore ADPs with no consequence.
A Convenient Scapegoat for National and Local Failures
The Scottish Government claims to lead the National Mission, yet only 35% of ADP coordinators believe there is effective leadership.
Instead of taking direct responsibility, the Government uses ADPs as buffers between policy failures and the public.
Local statutory services blame ADPs for lack of progress, when in reality, ADPs have no power to force change.
Funding: Smoke and Mirrors
72% of ADPs say funding is insufficient, yet even if more funding were given, ADPs do not control it.
The ring-fencing debate is meaningless—ADPs don’t allocate budgets, statutory bodies do.
ADP funding largely goes towards administration, reporting, and middle-management roles rather than direct services.
Endless Bureaucracy and Duplication of Effort
69% of ADP coordinators say national organisations (PHS, HIS, Scottish Government) are poorly coordinated, yet all demand extensive reporting.
ADPs are buried under data collection, paperwork, and performance tracking, instead of actually improving services.
National agencies bypass ADPs altogether to liaise directly with local services, undermining their role even further.
ADP Coordinators Are Burning Out—But Does It Matter?
52% of coordinators said their role is extremely or very stressful, and 26% reported a work-related illness or mental health issue.
But what is the actual purpose of their job? If ADPs disappeared, what essential function would be lost?
The call for more ADP support team funding only strengthens a bureaucracy that adds no tangible value.
Recovery Is an Afterthought in ADP Strategy
One of the most glaring omissions in the ADP Coordinators Survey is the absence of recovery as a central goal or measure of success. Instead, ADPs are evaluated on their administrative effectiveness, treatment adherence, and harm reduction measures—none of which track long-term recovery outcomes.
Key Findings on Recovery in the Survey:
Recovery was not a primary performance measure. Instead, ADPs were assessed based on their reporting efficiency and engagement with statutory services.
Funding for recovery-oriented support was a major concern (92% of respondents agreed), yet the survey focused on MAT standards, harm reduction, and overdose prevention.
Third-sector recovery groups were seen as engaged, but not as central decision-makers—reinforcing a system where bureaucrats, not lived-experience voices, shape policy.
There was no structured way to track recovery rates, community reintegration, or long-term success in addiction treatment.
This confirms that ADPs remain locked in a crisis-response model rather than a recovery-oriented system of care. If recovery isn’t even measured, it isn’t prioritised.
Was the @P_H_S_Official Survey Designed to Undermine ADPs?
The way this survey was structured suggests that Public Health Scotland (PHS) may have intentionally framed ADPs as ineffective, reinforcing their role as a failing bureaucracy rather than a necessary service provider.
Key Indicators of a Loaded Survey:
The questions focused on ADP limitations, not successes.
The survey reinforced the perception that ADPs lack power, rather than asking how they could be empowered.
PHS already has access to national data—yet the survey findings appear designed to justify ADP abolition rather than reform.
The real accountability failures (lack of national leadership and statutory engagement) are hidden behind ADPs’ structural weaknesses.
Given this, it is reasonable to question whether ADPs have been set up to fail in the public eye.
Answering the Real Questions
1. Why do ADPs even exist?
ADPs exist primarily as a bureaucratic mechanism to shield national and local governments from direct responsibility for drug-related failures. They were created to provide “partnership working”—but in reality, they have no statutory authority, no enforcement power, and no financial autonomy. They exist to take the blame when progress stalls.
2. What purpose do they serve if they have no power?
ADPs serve as middle-management administrators, channelling policies and funding decisions that they do not control. They process reports, organise meetings, and compile data—but they do not directly deliver services, nor can they compel others to act.
3. Who benefits from keeping them in place?
The Scottish Government, which can claim to have a coordinated national approach while avoiding direct accountability.
Local statutory bodies (NHS, Local Authorities, IJBs), which can ignore ADPs at will and avoid being held responsible for failures.
The ADP bureaucracy itself, which sustains jobs and administrative roles that could be eliminated without affecting service delivery.
4. What would happen if ADPs were abolished?
Direct funding to frontline services: Instead of going through an unnecessary administrative layer, funding could go straight to harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services.
Clearer accountability: With ADPs gone, statutory bodies would be forced to take direct responsibility for drug policy implementation.
Less bureaucracy, more action: Services would spend less time reporting up the chain and more time delivering real support.
Stronger community-led solutions: Recovery communities, third-sector organisations, and lived-experience groups could play a more direct role in shaping services, instead of being mediated by ADPs.
Conclusion: ADP's Are another ineffective mechanism in a quango led unaccountable system that could be Scrapped and at least 10 million savings could go to frontline services
The 2024 ADP Coordinators Survey confirms what those inside the sector have known for years: ADPs are not the solution—they are part of the problem. The system needs less bureaucracy and more action, less middle management and more community leadership.
The message is clear: Scrap ADPs. Appoint accountability. Fund services. Measure recovery. Save lives.
You can see the report published today from PHS about the ADPs here
https://t.co/4mHWbiTqGr
📚✨ Catch our quick-fire Q&A with @RealMacKaySTV author of Scotland Today & Yesterday!
John shares fascinating insights from his writing inspiration to dream dinner guests.
Read it here: https://t.co/zGSE71MvZY
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Macarthyism, USA 1950,s dob in a communist.
Read about it.
Hate crime speech laws open the door to revenge allegations, dob in whomever to get revenge.
They said, versus the dobber said.
Dangerous times.
Who gets to judge using what precedents.
Sets people against each other personally, aggressor against intimidated.
Privileged against whom ever..
The influential against the uneducated.
Treat it as civil nuisance claims in a civil court funded by the plaintiff, for that is what it is, not using public monies and law to enforce.
This is not a police matter, refer it to politicians…
- They caused it.
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