Assessing progress

The group should take primary responsibility for producing plans for tackling availability and compiling data to report on progress. They should also oversee the delivery plans on availability and monitor progress against the proposed actions. This will require (ideally) quarterly reports and the setting up of suitable data streams to provide required information for the DAT and centrally.

In assessing progress in tackling markets and compiling any annual self-assessment of progress, the group should look at the indicators suggested and also those set out in recent publications from the Drug Strategy Directorate (DSD). This includes the guidance on tackling crack markets, available on http://www.drugs.gov.uk/ReportsandPublications/Communities/1051178536

During 2003-4 a new set of performance indicators for the police, which will also become KPIs for DATs in tackling supply, will be published and these can be used to determine performance in tackling supply. However whilst this list will include the definitive indicators which must be evidenced, other methods of measuring impact can still be used locally where it is felt appropriate, notably community perception studies.