Official Report 900KB pdf
Vapes (Synthetic Drugs)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports that the synthetic drug, spice, has been found in vapes that are being sold to schoolchildren. (S6T-02658)
I believe that Mr Gulhane’s question relates to media coverage from the weekend about drug dealers in England using social media platforms to target people and to sell illegal vapes that contain the synthetic drug spice. The actions of those dealers are illegal.
The use of vapes containing harmful substances among young people is highly concerning. Social media platforms have a clear responsibility to support law enforcement and prevent illegal activity on their sites that risks harming young people. I know that the Minister for Victims and Community Safety and the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise are leading a new task force to look at online harms, and they have been engaging with the United Kingdom Government to look more closely at the Online Safety Act 2023, which is, of course, reserved legislation.
As well as the drug enforcement activity that is led by Police Scotland, the Scottish Government is carrying out substance use education work in our schools through the curriculum for excellence. We are also investing £750,000 this year in Planet Youth, which is a community-led approach to creating healthier environments for young people and preventing substance use.
I declare my interest as a practising national health service general practitioner.
This is not just a problem in England. The threat to our children from vapes that are laced with illicit substances is becoming ever more terrifying. Last year, data from Scottish local authorities showed that there were 120 incidents in the previous three years of schoolchildren—some as young as primary school age—using vapes containing illicit substances. In March this year, in Dalkeith, two boys aged just 14 were hospitalised after inhaling from an illegal vape that was laced with spice.
Spice is a highly addictive drug that can cause severe health consequences such as psychosis, seizures and serious heart problems. That drug should be nowhere near our children.
I assume that the minister shares my concern that urgent action needs to be taken to prevent serious harm to our children. What tangible action will she take?
I certainly do share the member’s concern. Data from Public Health Scotland’s early warning system RADAR—rapid action drug alerts and response—has flagged an increase in tetrahydrocannabinol and synthetic cannabis in vapes, so the issue is not entirely restricted to England.
As I mentioned, while regulation of the internet remains reserved, we have successfully engaged with the UK Government on strengthening protections for children under its Online Safety Act 2023. Ofcom, the regulator, has published codes of practice for online platforms on illegal harms and protecting children from harm online. We will continue to work with the UK Government and Ofcom on implementation of the 2023 act and to press for stronger protections to keep children and young people safe while they are online.
The Scottish Government’s ministerial online safety task force, which is led by the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise and the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, is absolutely focused on strengthening our approach to keeping children safe while they are online.
Spice could be a potential gateway drug to addiction. The Scottish Government cannot afford to be complacent. There has been a sharp increase in the overall number of drug deaths in 2025. In the first quarter, there were 33 per cent more suspected drug deaths than in the previous quarter. The latest figures, which cover April to June, show that the number of drug deaths rose by 11 per cent when compared with the same period in 2014. Scotland is the drug deaths capital of Europe for the seventh year in a row.
Successive ministers have told us that drug consumption rooms save lives, but there is no tangible evidence to support that claim. The facts are being ignored and the Scottish National Party is ploughing ahead with plans for another drug consumption facility in Edinburgh. That will simply not help our children who are vaping and consuming drugs. Is it not time that the Scottish Government took a new approach to tackling the drug deaths crisis in Scotland?
Let me be clear with the member, as I have been many times previously. The safer drug consumption room is not the only tool that we are deploying against the dreadful toll of drug deaths that we are experiencing in Scotland. It is one of a range of evidence-based harm-reduction opportunities that we have.
The safer drug consumption facility does not cover vaping—we have wandered off in quite a different direction. There is no provision for inhalation in that facility—it is an injection-only facility.
We have widened access to treatment, we have increased the number of funded places at residential rehab and the capacity of residential rehab, and we have rolled out a world-leading naloxone programme, so that all our front-line staff, including police officers, ambulance crews and community pharmacists, have access to life-saving naloxone in the event of overdoses nearby.
The member is correct that the figures from this year are alarming. The statistics that came out today on suspected drug deaths in the first six months of the year show a 3 per cent increase. We are very much aware of the risks that are posed, and we are keen to work with the UK Government on drug-checking facilities. I think that they would reduce the contamination that we are experiencing in the market, which is causing so much harm in Scotland.
I remind members that I am employed as a bank nurse by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
The rise in the use of synthetic drugs is a concern. As has been clear through the RADAR system, nitazenes and synthetic opioids are highly dangerous because of their potency. Will the minister outline what steps can be taken to reduce the risk of overdose—for example, through the use of naloxone kits? How can members help to inform people about the risks that are posed?
The member is absolutely correct that the increased prevalence of new synthetic substances such as nitazenes is of real concern, not just here in Scotland but across the whole UK and globally. We are working hard to respond to the growing threat from those highly dangerous synthetic substances. They can be hundreds of times more potent than heroin, and they can increase the risk of overdose, hospitalisation and death. That is what we are seeing in our early statistics from the start of this year.
We are working with partners to communicate vital information and advice. I would encourage anyone who might be affected to familiarise themselves with that advice, including the new nitazene alert that was issued by Public Health Scotland on 12 August. The alert stresses that, although there is absolutely
“no safe way to take nitazenes ... There are ways to reduce the risk of harm and overdose”.
The drug that has been purchased might not always be the drug that it is expected to be. The harm-reduction advice is that people should take the smallest amount that they can, leave as long as they can between doses and ensure that there are people around who can respond in the event of an emergency.
I urge anyone who carries naloxone to consider carrying extra life-saving kits with them. We know that, because of the high potency of nitazenes, repeat doses of naloxone are very likely to be required.
Product safety is at the heart of the issue. The vapes are being marketed not as containing spice but as containing THC. The study by the University of Bath, which covered about 2,000 vapes across 114 schools in seven regions in England, found that contamination with spice ranged from 13 per cent to 25 per cent in the case of London and Lancashire. Will the minister consider undertaking a similar discrete study to understand the prevalence of spice contamination in vapes in schools in Scotland and to ensure that we can take preventative measures accordingly?
We are aware from the RADAR system that spice is being detected in vape products here in Scotland, too. I will certainly consider the idea of an academic study; I read the study from Bath university with interest.
Let me be absolutely clear that selling class B drugs such as spice is already illegal, selling vapes to children is already illegal and using online social media platforms to target children and young people to sell drugs is illegal. Anyone who has information regarding people who are involved in the supply of illegal vapes should contact Police Scotland on 101 or Crimestoppers.
Homeless Accommodation (Local Authority Spending)
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that Scottish local authorities spent over £100 million last year on bed and breakfast and hostel accommodation for homeless people. (S6T-02649)
The Scottish Government’s ambition is to prevent homelessness as part of our Housing (Scotland) Bill, and for every homeless household to have a settled home that meets their needs. The solution is to deliver more homes and to make better use of the homes that we have.
Last week, the Cabinet Secretary for Housing set out plans to invest up to £4.9 billion in affordable homes over the next four years. We are doubling the funding that is available for acquisitions to £80 million this year so that councils and housing associations can purchase properties for those households who are spending too long in temporary accommodation. We will also invest an additional £4 million this year to expand the delivery of housing first tenancies.
The cabinet secretary will know that it costs councils around £11,000 to deal with each homelessness application. Given that almost 4,000 homelessness applications were made in Edinburgh alone last year, does the cabinet secretary agree that councils should be able to spend their limited funds on preventing homelessness, instead of on firefighting the effects of a housing emergency? How does the Scottish Government plan to support local authorities to cover the increased cost, which is up 128 per cent since 2020-21?
I thank Mark Griffin for his question, because it is important that we focus on what can be done at Scottish Government, local government and United Kingdom Government levels to tackle the unacceptable numbers of people—children, in particular—who are in temporary accommodation.
It has been good to see that positive progress has been made in a number of local authorities, including Aberdeenshire, East Ayrshire, East Lothian and South Ayrshire councils, all of which have consistently seen decreases in the number of homelessness applications and in the use of temporary accommodation.
Funding is provided by the Scottish Government to local authorities, including through the general grant, and it is important to recognise the work that is undertaken through that funding, which looks in particular at preventative methods. I have mentioned some of the additional funding that we will be providing this year, but there is also the work that we do to provide support to councils, particularly—but not solely—Glasgow and Edinburgh councils, which have been considerably affected by the increased pressures. Although this is an issue throughout Scotland, we are seeing progress in many local authorities.
I thank the cabinet secretary for her response and acknowledge the action that has been outlined today and was outlined in the chamber last week by the Cabinet Secretary for Housing. However, the housing crisis has not appeared overnight; it has been nearly 18 months since the Government declared a housing emergency, and yet since then, record numbers of children have been placed in temporary accommodation, often in the most appalling and unsafe conditions. Council workers report that they have seen very little change in the Government’s approach since the declaration.
On last week’s statement, it is not enough to say that we can help a few hundred children. The use of B and Bs and hostels for homeless children should end immediately. Will the cabinet secretary commit to ending the scandal of children in B and B and hostel accommodation entirely, as a priority of the Government?
We are working hard with our local authority partners to ensure that families with children, in particular, although not solely families with children, are accommodated correctly. For example, 2,700 households with children have been assisted into affordable housing since December 2024. That is part of the work that the Government has been doing in our delivery of 139,000 homes, including 99,000 for social rent, since 2007.
It is important that we look at how we can best make use of existing stock through our work on voids in the social rented sector and on empty properties in the private sector, which is exactly why additional funding has been going in. The work that the Cabinet Secretary for Housing announced last week clearly builds on the work that has already been undertaken on acquisitions, empty homes and voids to ensure that we are delivering for local authorities and registered social landlords to support them in providing good affordable homes.
Will the cabinet secretary advise what further help can be provided to local authorities to maximise the use of actual housing for temporary accommodation versus the use of totally unacceptable, below-tolerable-standard hotels? I saw that first hand when the North Ayrshire Council homelessness team disinvested from such accommodation. It made a monumental difference to the people being supported by providing a safer and more secure stopover while they waited for a permanent tenancy. Our work reduced overall costs to the council and improved the lives of those involved. Given the pressures on supply, doing such work is even more challenging now, but it is fundamental for people’s dignity, along with deploying the really important prevention measures.
It is important to ensure that we do all that we can, working with our local authority partners, to deliver affordable homes. That is exactly why the Cabinet Secretary for Housing last week announced a doubling—from £40 million to £80 million—of acquisitions investment for this financial year.
We have again asked councils to prioritise the acquisition of family homes and to contact every household with children living in quality temporary accommodation to establish whether those homes can be made permanent. Local authorities already have the ability to do that and, although many local authorities use that practice, which is known as “flipping”, as a useful part of their housing policies, other local authorities could do more in that regard.
It is important to look at what can be done with the social rented housing that we have but also to look at the support that the Scottish Government is providing—on top of the previous investment of £40 million, which is now £80 million—to acquire more homes. Building additional housing is also very important.
That concludes topical questions. I will allow a few moments for those on the front benches to reorganise themselves before we move to the next item of business.
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