May 2008

VOLUNTARY sector services for drug users in many parts of Scotland are under pressure as major changes to funding arrangements take effect and threaten to undermine efforts to bring about the Government’s new focus on drugs “recovery”.

 

Organisations in many parts of the country are being forced to lay off staff and withdraw or reduce services as projects are hit by the end of protective council ring fenced funding and implications arising from switching funding of employability services from the New Futures Fund to the Fairer Scotland Fund (FSF).

 

Growing concern among MSPs has led to the Scottish Parliament agreeing on the “pressing need” to review the system to provide more stable funding for the voluntary sector, including longer-term contracts and a national contracts framework.

 

MSPs have also called for a review of the new Concordat involving Single Outcome Agreements (SOA) between Scottish local authorities and the Scottish Government, under which councils spending is freed up in exchange for delivering key Scottish Government priorities, after the first year of operations.

 

And they want to see “greater dialogue” between the voluntary sector and councils on the operation of the Concordat.

 

One of the worst hit has been the homeless charity Aberdeen Cyrenians, which has suffered a cut of almost £900,000 - a quarter of its budget - by the city Council as part of a wider package of cuts of £27 million.

 

However, Finance Secretary John Swinney says that the Council’s problems are a direct result of previous administrations of the council not living within their means.

 

Other places hit by the crisis include Dumfries and Galloway, where Independent Living Support which helps people with drug and alcohol problems sustain their tenancies has lost £90,000, according to local MSP Elaine Murray.

 

In Dundee, the city’s Cyrenians have launched a £75,000 public appeal to recoup underwritten cash diverted to keep open employability services based at their Wishart Centre; However, their homelessness crisis service have been forced to close. (see below for details of how to contribute to the fund)

 

In Edinburgh – hype, the citybased drugs charity for 18s and under - has lost two specialist posts for looked after/accommodated young people as a result of the city council’s decision to bring the function in-house. Edinburgh Cyrenians has also suffered a £30,000 cut, according to city MSP George Foulkes.

 

Meanwhile, the future of several employability projects in Glasgow – including ones run by Aberlour Child Care Trust, Move On, Blue Triangle Housing Association, Glasgow Simon Community and REALISE – is in doubt as they wait for new tendering processes to take shape as part of the switch of funding to the new Fairer Scotland Fund, which allocates the cash through Community Planning Partnerships.

 

The projects have already been forced to seek emergency funding to fill the shortfall between the end of the New Futures Funding and the commissioning of new employability services by the city’s Community Planning Partnership.

 

However, the projects will face renewed problems when this money runs out at the end of June unless the tendering process has reached the sub-contracting stage at which these projects make their bids to provide the frontline services.

 

In a Holyrood debate, North East Fife Liberal Democract MSP Iain Smith said that “the sector provides vital services to some of the neediest in our community, and this Government is simply not respecting it.”

Dumfries Labour MSP Elaine Murray said that the new arrangements were making “cuts in funding to real organisations that provide real services to real people.”

 

The issue, she said, was being compounded by uncertainty about eligibility for new funding streams, such as the Fairer Scotland Fund.   Ms Murray said this would flatline at £145 million over the spending review period, meaning a real-term cut of 8 percent by 2010-11.

 

Meanwhile, major national charities have expressed concerns about the demands that will be placed on them if they are required to apply to 32 different local authorities instead of to one national fund, she told the chamber.

 

“There could be worse to come. In the face of the uncertainties that exist about future funding, many councils have, for the time being, rolled forward existing spending commitments, but that approach may be impossible to maintain if funding pressures build further.

 

“Voluntary sector organizations cannot survive being put on hold while details of single outcome agreements, the Scottish Investment Fund and the Fairer Scotland Fund are being worked out.

 

“The consequences of delay for them are redundancies, demoralisation of staff and, ultimately, reduction of services.”

 

Ms Murray, who called on the Government to provide transitional funding for organisations that are affected to enable them to survive until the new funding streams are in place, also highlighted Scottish Trades Union Congress concerns about:

 

• the insecurity of third sector employment contracts
• lower wages and poorer conditions of employment as organisations compete to secure contracts.

“The practice of reverse auctions, for example, whereby authorities advertise care package requirements to attract the lowest bidder, encourages undercutting not only of the public sector, but of other third sector organisations.

 

“The third sector’s voice needs to be heard, and voluntary sector interests must be represented in the single outcome agreement negotiations.”

 

However, Enterprise Minister Jim Mather said that the Scottish Government wanted the voluntary sector to thrive and grow, and accused the Labour Party of inculcating “groundless fears, uncertainties and doubts.

 

He told MSPs that the Scottish Government wanted local authorities, community planning partnerships and the third sector to work together increasingly closely and collaboratively to deliver better services to their communities.

 

“New opportunities exist for councils, which are now free to decide what their priorities are and are free to choose how to secure those priorities.

 

“Our approach also creates the opportunity and the motivation for councils to scope and assess both the needs in their areas and the capability of the communities to be involved in meeting those needs.

 

“That demands a new and positive approach from councils and communities.

 

“Consequently, we are focusing strongly on how the third sector plays into this burgeoning sense of localism.

 

“The new arrangements bring a strong focus on the community planning partnerships, offering
them a heightened sense of purpose and the means to increase community spirit.”

Donations – including cheques made payable to Dundee Cyrenians – can be forwarded or handed in to:

The Wishart Centre
50 Constable Street
Dundee
DD4 6AD

For further details contact: Richard Howat, Head of Service, Dundee Cyrenians,
tel 0783 4481033 or email richardhowat.cyrenians@virgin.net

 

SCOTTISH Drugs Forum has responded to the Home Secretary's decision today to reclassify cannabis as a Class B drug.The decision comes despite a recommendation from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) that cannabis should remain a Class C drug. 

 

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith today accepted all the recommendations within the ACMD's report, with the exception of retaining cannabis at Class C.  The upgrading means that people found in possession of cannabis can be sentenced to jail for up to five years, compared to two years for Class C drugs, and/or an unlimited fine.

 

Penalties for supplying a Class B drug remain the same as Class C - those convicted can face jail sentences of up to 14 years, or an unlimited fine or both.

 

If approved by Parliament, reclassification would take effect from early 2009.

 

Scottish Drugs Forum commented today:

 

"THE UK Government’s decision to upgrade cannabis to Class B will be largely irrelevant because youth culture is far more influential than laws and penalties when it comes to young people making choices about using cannabis.

 

"We believe the Home Secretary’s decision to accept the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs recommendations for more research into assessing the true level of risk will have more impact our ability to prevent and respond to harmful cannabis use.

essential    

 

"Research that identifies young people most at risk of developing serious mental health problems, and which looks into the volume and frequency of cannabis use, is essential.

 

"It will provide the basis for credible information to be targeted at various groups including very young users, so they can make informed choices about their lifestyles.

 

"We also need to develop more treatment services for long-term dependent users and provide better psychiatric help for people whose mental health problems are made worse by using cannabis."

15 May 2008

A MAJOR new research project has been set up to improve the health of older drug users across Europe, whose numbers are expected to more than double by 2020.

The project - which has won EU funding - is being driven by a coalition of academics and non-government drugs organisations in Germany, Austria, Poland and Scotland, which is represented by Scottish Drugs Forum.

The moves comes as the EU’s drugs agency - the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction - warns of the “new and greater demands” which will be placed on services to meet the needs of this growing number of older users.

The research project aims to provide guidelines for community-based and residential care for drug users aged over 35, many of whom have chronic problems due to polydrug use, and poor mental and physical health.

One of the key priorities will be to pin down the true numbers, ages and genders of long-term drug users aged up to 70 in Frankfurt, Vienna, Warsaw, and in Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as look at the living and health care problems of this group.

interviews

The researchers will also identify examples of good practice in caring for senior drug dependents in the
partner countries by interviewing experts in the field and looking at further literature research in European countries.  They also plan to interview senior drug dependents directly and to explore what living and caring arrangements in old age they would prefer for themselves.

The 30-month-long study will be co-ordinated by Prof. Dr. Irmgard Vogt of the Institute of Addiction Research at the University of Applied Sciences in Frankfurt. It will also look at how each partner country delivers community-based and residential care for senior drug dependents.

The results will be published on a project website - details to be announced when available - and there are also plans to hold national seminars in each country to discuss concrete steps on how to proceed in the implementation of care for senior drug dependents.

A European conference will be also be held – date not set yet – to raise awareness for present and future needs of ageing drug dependents and discuss practical aspects of how to effectively care for them.

chronic

David Liddell, Director of SDF, said: “There is a growing population of senior drug dependents, aged between 35 and 45 and older in all European countries.

“Most of them are polydrug users, often injecting opiate users, and most have mental health problems and many will suffer from chronic infectious diseases.

“In Scotland, a large proportions of drug-related deaths in Scotland occur within this age group but we also strongly suspect that many lives are cut short due to the impact of bloodborne viruses and other chronic health conditions associated with problem drug use.

focus

"For those who do survive, quality of life can be very poor because of continued poor health, lack of income and lack of hope, compounded by stigma and marginalisation.

“Yet the focus of drugs policy and practice is very much on young people and prevention and there has been virtually no action at European level to help this group of drug users.

“Only a few actions take plce at national level that focus on senior drug dependents and their care and treatment needs. The Scottish Government has pledged to make Scotland a fairer and healthier country and sharpen focus on improving public health and reducing inequalities, which is why we welcome their interest in this project.”

Project partners are:

• Verein Arbeits- und Erziehungshilfe, (VAE)_e.V.,  Frankfurt/Main, Germany

• Institut für Soziale Infrastruktur, (ISIS) Frankfurt/Main, Germany

• Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF)

•Schweizer Haus Hadersdorf (SHH),Vienna, Austria

• European Centre for Social Welfare and Research (EC Vienna), Vienna, Austria ~

• Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology (IPIN), Warsaw, Poland.

Co-operating partners on the European and the national levels so far include:

• European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (ECMDDA)
• European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
• Ministry of Health, Berlin
• Department of Drugs and Addiction, Hamburg
• Ministry of Health, Family and Youth, Vienna
• The Scottish Government.

Substance use among older adults: a neglected problem: EMCDDA report