Drug action team

Drug Action Teams ("DAT") are multi-agency partnerships created by the 1995 United Kingdom national drug strategy and responsible for delivering the drug strategy at a local level.

In England, some DATs also have a remit for alcohol and are called Drug and Alcohol Action Teams ("DAAT"). In Scotland, all DATs also have a remit for alcohol and are now called Alcohol and Drug Partnerships ("ADP"). In Wales, five Drug and Alcohol Action Teams were replaced by four Strategic Coordination Teams (“SCT”) in each of the Welsh police authority areas.

English DATs are coterminous with their top level local authority (i.e. county or unitary authority).

The status of DATs changed with the arrival of Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (“CDRP”) in England and Community Safety Partnerships (“CSP”) in Wales in 1998. In some areas, DAT functions are carried out by the CDRP. In others, the DAT is effectively a sub-committee of the CDRP.

DATs in England receive various funding streams including the Pooled Treatment Budget (PTB) via the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) and the Drug Interventions Programme via the Home Office.