To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide additional resources to drug action teams in order to increase services for drug misusers in the Fife, Forth Valley and Tayside Health Board areas.

The provision of additional resources to assist Drug Action Teams (DATs) directly in implementing the Government’s strategy Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership , is currently under consideration. Funding for drug misuse services, is provided through the constituent agencies represented on the DATs and it is for them to decide the priority to be attached to the problem. Spending on drug treatment in Scotland over the next year has already been boosted as a result of the £6 million increase in drug treatment funding for the three year period from April 1999. Additional resources allocated to Fife, Forth Valley and Tayside Health Boards in this financial year amount to £102,702, £64,699 and £176,292 respectively.

Additional resources have also been provided to Scottish local authorities in 1999-2000 for their social work services. These include services for people with drug related problems, which cannot be separately identified. Social Work spending in Scotland will increase by £43 million in 2000-01 and a further £36 million in 2001-2002. These resources have still to be allocated to individual Councils.