Senior Policy Officer
Background Information
Salary: £32,000 (full time) plus 6% pension contribution
London based
DrugScope
DrugScope is the UK’s leading centre of expertise on drugs and the national membership organisation for individuals and agencies working across the drug sector. Our aim is to minimise drug related harms – to individuals, families and communities. In March 2009, the London Drug and Alcohol Network (LDAN) merged with DrugScope, as a result we are responsible for the principal independent network for drug and alcohol services in the capital.
Working primarily as a second tier organisation we speak for our members and other stakeholders in drug treatment, education, prevention, criminal justice and other areas; we provide quality information about drugs; promote effective responses to drug use; advise on policy making and good practice; and inform public and media awareness and understanding of the issues.
In a hugely emotive area of public policy it is DrugScope’s role to promote informed, challenging and rational debate - and work to ensure that responses to drug use and the harms caused are evidence-based, pragmatic and effective.
Policy and membership
DrugScope seeks to ensure that the views and experiences of our members, and other people affected by drug and alcohol problems, shape the discussion and formation of drug policy and practice, nationally and locally.
We have strong and constructive relationships with ministers, MPs, peers, senior officials, and with national statutory agencies (such as the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse) as well as with many other independent organisations involved in related areas of health and social policy and practice. We regularly meet with officials across Government, including in the Department of Health, Home Office, Department of Work and Pensions, Department for Communities and Local Government and Ministry of Justice.
In 2011 we set up a new Chief Executives’ Drug Treatment Provider Forum, which brings together Chief Executives from leading drug and alcohol treatment agencies. Working with our colleagues in the Drug Sector Partnership we produced a Drug Treatment Consensus Statement, which now has around 70 signatures, including many senior figures who are involved in service provision.
We are represented on a number of influential bodies such as the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Drugs Committee, the Criminal Justice Council, the National Advisory Group for the Department of Health’s Health and Criminal Justice Programme and the co-design group responsible for drug recovery ‘payment by results’ pilots. Our Chief Executive is a member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which advises the Government on drugs and drugs policy.
Much of our work is developed in partnership with other organisations. We are members of the Department of Health funded ‘Drug Sector Partnership’, with Adfam, eATA and The Alliance. We have joined forces with the Substance Misuse Skills Consortium and the Recovery Group UK to form the Recovery Partnership, which provides representation on recovery issues to Government ministers and officials (for example, by briefing the Inter-Ministerial Group on Drug Policy). We are working in partnership with Clinks, Mind and Homeless Link on a major project called Making Every Adult Matter, funded by the Gulbenkian Foundation, which is focussed on people with multiple needs who experience multiple exclusion from services. We participate in the Criminal Justice Alliance, Third Sector Forum on Mental Health and Criminal Justice, Drug Education Forum, Needle Exchange Forum and Drug Education Practitioners Forum. We are regularly involved in advisory groups for major policy and research projects by other organisations (for example, a number of UK Drug Policy Commission initiatives and the Royal Society of Arts report on user-centred recovery).
The London Drug and Alcohol Network (LDAN), merged with DrugScope in 2009, and is now the responsibility of the policy and membership team. LDAN is currently developing three funded projects, respectively, on housing and homelessness, domestic violence and employment. It has well-established relationships with the Greater London Authority, City of London and the National Treatment Agency in London. It runs a senior managers group for drug services across the capital and a service provider forum, jointly with the National Treatment Agency in London. We have also provided secretariat support for GLA’s Joint Action Group on Alcohol. We produce a bi-monthly LDAN News newsletter.
DrugScope and LDAN work to ensure that all our policy work is informed by the views and experiences of our members and other stakeholders. We also facilitate the direct involvement of our members in policy processes, both nationally and locally. We hold consultation meetings with our membership across England and Wales. In March 2009, we produced an influential report called Drug Treatment at the Crossroads, based on a series of consultation events across the country. In March 2010, we produced a follow up report called Young People’s Drug and Alcohol Treatment at the Crossroads. We produce a monthly ‘Members Briefing’ newsletter, including short and accessible briefings on key policy initiatives.
Recent responses to Government and other consultations informed by the views and experiences of our members have included our responses to:
· The Spending Review consultation 2010;
· The Drug Strategy consultation 2010;
· The National Treatment Agency’s consultation on ‘Building recovery in communities’;
· The Department of Health’s ‘Healthy lives, healthy people’ White Paper on public health reform;
· The Ministry of Justice Green Paper ‘Breaking the Cycle’ on criminal justice reform and tackling offending and re-offending; and
· The Sentencing Council’s review of sentencing for drug offences.
This activity has responded to the major reform agenda which has been introduced by the Government since the 2010 General Election, which will have a significant impact on our sector. To take one example, in April 2013 the National Treatment Agency will be abolished and its key functions transferred to Public Health England. Responsibility for commissioning drug and alcohol services will be transferred to local authorities and directors of public health. Around £1 billion of current drug and alcohol spend will be transferred locally into the new public health budget. Other key developments include the impact of reductions in public spending, the wider ‘localism agenda’, welfare reform (it is estimated that 80 per cent of people with a heroin and/or crack cocaine dependency are receiving benefit), criminal justice reform and the introduction of outcome-based commissioning and payment by results for drug and alcohol treatment.
DrugScope is increasingly engaging in key elements of alcohol policy. The Drug Strategy 2010 emphasises an integrated response to drug and alcohol misuse; ‘poly-drug’ use is a key issue for many services (particularly for young people); many DrugScope and LDAN members work with people with alcohol problems; and the challenges of supporting social integration (for example, access to training, work and housing) are essentially the same for people recovering from drug and alcohol problems. The London Drug and Alcohol Network (LDAN) has a strong interest in alcohol policy in London, and has provided secretariat support for the GLA’s Joint Action Group on Alcohol. We are planning to further develop our work on alcohol treatment and recovery.
Providing information
The provision of accurate, accessible and timely information is core to DrugScope’s work, and is an important part of our membership package. We respond to the needs of our members, stakeholders and the public through a number of services and resources, including:
· The bi-monthly Druglink magazine, which is widely regarded as a key resource in the drug sector;
· our website, which includes unique resources such as: Drugsearch (an online encyclopaedia of drugs, their history, effects and the law), and Helpfinder (a database of drug treatment services in England, Wales and Scotland);
· the London Drug and Alcohol Network (LDAN) website, including a Find a Service feature;
· D-World, a website for 11-14 year olds;
· a monthly Members Briefing;
· a bi-monthly LDAN News magazine;
· a web-based practice-sharing hub (PRISM).
Promoting effective responses to drug use
DrugScope works to ensure that responses to drug use are high quality and based on evidence of what works. Working with our members and stakeholders we support and promote the development of quality standards, policy frameworks and good practice for specialist and general agencies involved in drugs issues.
DrugScope is a partner, with the University of Glasgow, for STRADA (Scottish Training on Drugs and Alcohol) a national training organisation for Scotland funded by the Scottish Government.
DrugScope is a member of the Substance Misuse Skills Consortium and is represented on the Consortium’s Executive.
Recent titles in DrugScope’s ‘Essential’ guides’ book series include: ‘The Essential Guide to Drugs and Alcohol’, ’The Essential Guide to Working with Young People about drugs and alcohol’, ‘The Essential Student Reader on Drugs’ and ‘The Essential Guide to Drugs and Pregnancy’.
Informing awareness
DrugScope is usually the first port of call for the media wanting information, analysis and comment on drug issues. As well as being quoted in the print and online media, DrugScope regularly contributes to news, current affairs and phone-in programmes. We are pro-active in responding to and countering inaccurate or sensationalist reporting of drug issues and policy developments. DrugScope staff regularly contribute to magazines, newsletters and journals. DrugScope has an annual conference, and has worked with other agencies to host national conferences – for example – on dual diagnosis and access to psychological therapies (with Mind and the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health) and on young people’s drug and alcohol treatment (with the National Children’s Bureau). Earlier this year LDAN held a successful conference looking at the challenges facing drug and alcohol services in London.
Membership representation
DrugScope/LDAN has around 500 members and member agencies from a broad range of organisations and individuals working in drug and drug related services. We represent the views of our members to policy formers and decision makers and draw on the experience, skills and knowledge of our members to inform our work with the media.
DrugScope is not a ‘trade body’ nor do we restrict our membership and policy work to a particular ‘interest group’ or type of service provider. Our members include front line workers in adult and young people’s drug treatment, service managers, members of Drug Actions Teams (DATs), police officers, drug education advisers, arrest referral workers, housing providers, GPs and many others.
Over the past couple of years we have reviewed our policy work and significantly strengthened our role as a membership body.
Building on the constructive relationships we have with government, policy makers and the media we are committed to providing an even stronger and more influential voice for our members.
We have made significant progress, but are still seeking to improve communication to and from our members and other stakeholders. As well as seeking the opinions of members on specific issues and developments (e.g., in response to government consultations), we would like to be more proactive in capturing emerging issues and developments from the ‘front line’ (e.g., the impact of new funding arrangements) and facilitating the sharing of information and good practice, with a particular focus on local structures and developments.
About the role of Senior Policy Officer
The senior policy officer role is critical to our mission as a membership organisation and a centre of expertise on drugs and drug misuse. Our policy and membership team is responsible for proactively monitoring policy processes, ensuring that DrugScope and LDAN members are informed about relevant policy developments, consulting with DrugScope/LDAN’s membership to ensure we are effective in articulating their concerns, views and experiences, and helping to build relationships with a range of stakeholders, including service providers, other third sector organisations and civil servants.
Working closely with the Director of Policy and Membership and DrugScope’s policy officer, the post holder will take lead responsibility for specific policy themes. The senior policy officer will have overall responsibility for leading on the work of the London Drug and Alcohol Network, including leading on LDAN’s policy work in London (for example, with the Greater London Authority and the NTA’s regional team), overseeing funded LDAN projects, developing the LDAN website, overseeing production of our bi-monthly ‘LDAN News’ newsletter and co-ordinating engagement activities with LDAN members (including a joint LDAN/NTA Service Providers Forum).
Policy Officers are expected to write policy briefings and documents addressing the concerns of DrugScope’s membership, prepare consultation responses, support senior staff in meetings with officials, MPs and Government, represent DrugScope in meetings and at events, and play an active part in representing our members’ views and facilitating involvement at forums and events. In addition, they will be involved in establishing and supporting regional forums and expert groups; supporting existing DrugScope and LDAN forums (such as the LDAN Domestic Violence Network); contributing to DrugScope’s Members Briefing and LDAN News, and (where appropriate) Druglink magazine, and reporting - internally and externally - on feedback and communication from members.
Working closely with DrugScope colleagues the post holder will take a lead role in developing relationships and communications with our members (particularly LDAN members). Some of this will be office based, making use of email, telephone and the internet, but it is important that DrugScope is also proactive in facilitating meetings, consultation events and forums.
The post-holder will also have an opportunity to develop supervision skills by overseeing the work of policy interns and volunteers.
While experience of the drugs sector and knowledge of drugs and related issues are not essential, the ability to learn about and understand issues and developments in practice and policy affecting our membership will be necessary. You will be supported by colleagues and will work closely with the Director of Policy and Membership and DrugScope Policy Officer, as well as the communications team and Chief Executive.
The post will require some travel and the occasional overnight stay away from London.
We are seeking someone with experience of policy work (for example, drafting responses to Government consultations or briefings) for this role – and the ability to produce good quality written documents is essential. A knowledge of local policy, commissioning and implementation structures (and particularly of those in London) would be helpful, but not essential – and this is an area where we would expect to support the post-holder to develop expertise. Experience of working in a membership or networking capacity in a charity, campaigning or membership organisation is helpful but not essential - but candidates must demonstrate the relevant skills and experience for what will be a varied role.