Drugs Action Plan
The first item of business is a statement by Angus MacKay on the drugs action plan. The minister will take questions at the end of the statement, so there should be no interventions. In view of the length of the statement, 45 minutes will be allowed for this item of business instead of the usual half hour. The chamber clocks are still not working, so members will have to rely on my timekeeping skills to time speeches.
In January, we debated fully Scotland's drug problem and how the Executive, drug action teams, public bodies and communities in Scotland could combine to tackle it. I spoke then of Scotland's drugs strategy—"Tackling Drugs in Scotland: Action in Partnership"—and of our determination to make it work. Members voted to endorse that approach.
Every speaker in that debate reflected the concerns that we all have about drugs in Scotland about children, neglect and early drug misuse and the concentrated despair of communities where drug abuse has rotted the fabric of normal life, thriving on poverty and unemployment. In that debate, members were serious, practical and committed to action to support individuals and communities in tackling drugs.
On that day, I said that the Executive would publish an action plan to show how we are meeting the challenge of developing our strategy into a programme of action. Today, we publish that action plan and bring it to Parliament. The plan covers and links the four pillars of the strategy: young people, communities, treatment and availability. Its purpose is to set out what the Executive is doing directly and in support of agencies and anti-drugs activities in communities.
I said in January that the Executive would work together across departments in the same way that we expect local agencies to work together to deliver joint outcomes. That is why the ministerial committee on tackling drug misuse has led the development of the action plan, ensuring that health, social inclusion, education and justice work together.
We have looked behind the broad objectives and action priorities in "Tackling Drugs in Scotland" and have asked ourselves what key national policies, guidance and resources are needed at the centre to support Scotland's drug action teams and key agencies in turning priorities into action.
I said in January that our Scotland-wide efforts needed to support local work. We have therefore listened to MSPs, who have reported to us from the areas that they know well. Following the debate in January, I wrote to MSPs individually, picking up the points raised in the debate. We have been mindful of those issues of concern in drawing up the plan.
We have also listened to drug action teams. During the past six months, the 22 drug action teams across Scotland have had to report to us on their progress and plans. Those reports show that almost all areas have in place or are developing plans for drug education, prevention and harm reduction. That is welcome news. The reports also show where progress still has to be made, for instance, in raising the percentage of general practitioners involved in shared care of drug misusers. We have built up a clearer picture of where the gaps in services lie, where the drug action teams want more local action and where there is a need for closer matching of priorities to funding.
We have listened directly to local experiences. Ministers have met communities and people involved in drugs projects all over Scotland. By the end of the summer, Iain Gray, Jackie Baillie and I will have met every drug action team in Scotland. We are still listening. The plan invites ideas from people right across Scotland—by phone, e-mail, fax or post—on how communities and individuals can join in the fight against drugs.
I said in January that we were auditing what we spend, so that we can get closer to shaping services that meet real needs on the ground and give value for money. The action plan reveals that the Executive spends more than £250 million a year dealing with the drugs problem in Scotland. We know that because of the comprehensive audit of expenditure across the Executive carried out by the policy unit. Over half the directly targeted spend and drugs-related money identified in mainstream programmes is spent on treatment and rehabilitation and on prevention—40 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. Just under half is spent on enforcement. That vital information has been made available for the first time, and allows us to begin to map out in a meaningful way the gaps in the pattern of present and planned activity. It will help to get the maximum value for money from anti-drugs activity and, most important, it will help us to shift activity and expenditure to the key objectives and priorities.
I spoke in January of effective action needing to be based on good information and thorough research. Since then, we have published the fullest set of facts about drug misuse ever produced for Scotland. Every DAT and agency can now access expert, accurate and relevant facts and figures on drug misuse to inform their local strategies.
For example, Fife drug action team now has access to detailed information—down to postcode level—on the incidence of problem drug misuse reported to the database. It covers the ages of drug misusers, their gender, the drugs used and the incidence of needle sharing. All the information can be differentiated for Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes and Burntisland, for example.
Later this month, all that drugs information and much more will be available to the DATs and to agencies via a drug misuse website. Key statistics, research findings, best practice information, latest developments and links to other key sites will be available to help improve service planning and delivery and local responses.
This summer, I will publish Scotland's first dedicated drug misuse research programme, which is currently being drawn up with a wide range of expert advice. Work under the programme will be of the most practical and testing kind, addressing directly the concerns of the agencies and of those affected by drug misuse.
One of the front runners for research is investigation of the factors associated with young people starting to smoke heroin, and with the transition between smoking and injecting. That will allow us to inform in the best way prevention and treatment interventions; applying the research programme will help to ensure that valuable resources are channelled to the areas of greatest need in the most productive ways.
Countries around the world face similar problems, and comparable strategies are being adopted in other nations, with some success. During the parliamentary recess, I discussed drug prevention and treatment policy with senior advisers and practitioners working in the United States. I was particularly impressed by a number of aspects of the approach taken in New York State, for example, the operation of the drug court in Queens, New York, where I had the opportunity to discuss the working of the court with the presiding judge. Our action plan makes it clear that we, too, are now considering more non-custodial alternatives.
We are keeping up with what is happening in other countries, and are developing clear innovation in tackling drugs. We have made a number of unique advances in our approach to the problem. They include a national drug misuse research programme, with a timetable; our Government-based specialist prevention and effectiveness unit; our setting specific targets for a reduction in drug misuse in the future; local drug action teams, operating within an accountable framework; and an explicit commitment to more holistic rehabilitation—not just treating people and leaving them to fend for themselves, but getting them into training and education, so that they can start to give something back to the communities from which they have taken so much.
I said in January that we wanted to be effective in what we do. Scotland has successful projects and approaches, but we need better information on which approaches are failing, on those that could do better and on those that work and which could be spread into other areas. We also need to do more on how the various agencies can work together more effectively. We need to stop doing what is not working and use our resources instead to do more of what is working. Our new Scottish prevention and effectiveness unit will play a central role in promoting that agenda.
We will consult shortly on how the unit can best support the work of the drug action teams and agencies, so that a demanding work plan can be put in place. That wide-ranging consultation will involve MSPs, councils, MPs, the drug action teams, the voluntary sector and all the other key players with an interest in better services in Scotland and wider afield.
I spoke of action for young people. There is clear evidence that serious drug misuse in later life can be tracked back to early teen and childhood problems, including early criminal activity, truancy and problems at school. We need a range of measures to help all children to avoid drug misuse, and to give particular help to those at special risk.
We are addressing that challenge. The steps in our plan aim to ensure that every school pupil in Scotland has effective drug education, to set up a new and innovative drug misuse communications group, with an integrated strategy for getting critical information across at national and local level, and to support the care of particularly vulnerable young people.
I spoke of action for communities. While drug misuse cuts across all income groups, the greatest impact is in some of Scotland's most disadvantaged communities. The current inquiry by the Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee into drugs and deprived communities highlights the importance of understanding the connections between drug misuse and much wider social problems. We already have a range of social inclusion initiatives, but we will pay close attention to the committee's findings later this year. The Scottish Executive is committed to understanding those connections and supporting initiatives that can improve people's lives and communities.
The extra £2 million that we are making available over the next two years for drugs work through the social inclusion partnerships and drug action teams will actively engage local communities in the fight against drugs and use the expertise of experts such as local family support groups.
I spoke in January—as did many other members— of the critical importance of treatment. We are committed to expanding treatment for drug misusers. Treatment benefits drug misusers and cuts drug-related crime. The benefits of properly provided shared care schemes are particularly well established in research and we want the benefits to be widely spread throughout Scotland. We are backing that with the £6 million of extra funding for treatment that we committed for a three-year period when we came into office. I am pleased to be able to announce today that we are making a further £1 million of new money available for improved treatment services—a 9 per cent increase in provision.
Increasingly, when we talk about treatment, we are talking about the rehabilitation of drug users. In the long term, treatment alone brings only limited reward for the misuser and the wider community. We need to halt the cycle of despair that traps the drug misuser and deal with the environmental and social factors that encourage and support the addiction. To do that, we will have to open up new opportunities as part of a seamless package of care and support. We will have to make training, education and jobs accessible to people whose skills and confidence have been destroyed by their drug misuse. We will have to open up education and accommodation opportunities and link those to rehabilitation facilities. That will increase the value of our investment by turning tax takers into tax payers. We are planning an expansion of such facilities in line with our commitments in our programme for government.
To put fresh impetus into this key area, I am announcing today an additional £1 million of new money for targeted pathfinder projects, which, if successful, will be replicated. One key area for attention will be effective links into the employment of drug misusers. In spending the new money, we will ensure that the drug action teams are fully consulted and involved. All drug misuse services rely on a knowledgeable and committed work force. We need to invest in that. We will establish a new initiative for the training of staff working with drug misusers. An announcement on that will be made by the Deputy Minister for Community Care in the very near future.
We will also deal with treatment in prisons. We will shortly be publishing a revamped prisons drugs strategy—not a rehash of old policies, but a step change in the way in which drug misuse is tackled in Scotland's prisons.
I spoke about availability. The new Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency is up and running. For the first time, Scotland will have an organisation dedicated to tackling drug crime. It will build on the excellent work that has been done by the enforcement agencies, including the Scottish Crime Squad, the Scottish criminal intelligence office, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and the National Criminal Intelligence Service, and will help police forces to catch those who profit from this highly organised business.
The key to successful drug enforcement is to ensure that all the agencies work together in a strategic and co-ordinated way, exchange information and use that information to make informed decisions about where, on whom and on what to target their considerable expertise and resources. The SDEA will ensure that that happens. It will bring in a strategic and tactical capability for tackling drug crime at all levels. It will be backed by additional funding—£10 million over the next two years—and the up to 200 extra officers whom we have earmarked for the drug enforcement effort.
The SDEA is expected to dovetail with the treatment, prevention and education agencies. This week, Mathew Hamilton, a chief inspector in Tayside police, started work as national co-ordinator for the SDEA in one of the earliest appointments of those 200 officers. His role will be to ensure that the work of the agency supports, complements and is co-ordinated with the other activities and agencies in prevention, education and care and treatment.
I made it clear in January that we want coherent, joined-up action. Performance indicators have been introduced for many of the actions that are set out in the plan, across the four pillars, and others are being developed to monitor achievement and progress both at the centre and locally. Those indicators will monitor factors such as attendance at services, the number of young people who are taking drugs, the schools that are providing drug education, and seizures of controlled drugs. Increasingly we will focus more precisely on outputs that are delivered from agreed strategy objectives, and that is what will make the real impact in communities.
The action plan makes it clear that we will set targets that will be binding on the Executive, on drug action teams and on the agencies. Those targets will embrace our aims for young people, for action in communities, for treatment and care, and for stifling availability. They will act as a focus for the achievement of strategic objectives, and I hope that they will help to build a sense of common purpose and direction across all levels, from communities to the centre. Those targets could, for example, cover key issues such as the level of general practitioner involvement in shared care provision and the number of young people in Scotland who are trying drugs for the first time.
We have started work on what those targets should be and we will consult widely on them. Both the Executive and those who work in the field should expect to be held accountable for progress towards meeting them. The targets will be published in the autumn.
Some members suggested in January that it would be helpful to have a chart identifying the various groups and agencies that are operating in the field of drug misuse, and the way in which they link in with each other. I agree with that, and we have included such a chart in the action plan, explaining what the key players do and their relationship to each other, and indicating the respective relationships at the centre and locally.
In the debate in January, I set out the extra funding that we had put in place. Since coming into office, the Executive has started to spend the extra £27 million of additional funding that is committed to new initiatives, and will spend more than half of that sum—£14 million—on treatment and prevention. We are planning an expansion of rehabilitation facilities, including residential and other support services in the community, and I have announced today an extra £2 million for treatment and rehabilitation. We are currently involved in budget discussions within the Executive. In that budget work, we will ensure that we make best use of the existing resources that are devoted to drug misuse and examine the spending priorities in all areas, to identify the scope for further initiatives on drugs.
The Parliament, the Executive and the people of Scotland expect a lot of those who are charged with the implementation of Scotland's drugs strategy. With this action plan, we are saying that we expect the progress of the Executive, the drug action teams and the agencies to be measurable, and that we want that progress to be made in a climate of openness and accountability. We are also sending out the message to the drug action teams, the agencies and our communities that the Executive is backing them and challenging them to deliver locally.
This is not the last word on what we want to do. This is a 10-year strategy and we will continue to review different parts of the strategy as it progresses and evolves. There is much to do, and we have put substantial new resources behind the implementation of the strategy so that results will start to feed into communities as quickly as possible. We are pursuing a proper, balanced strategy that takes into account enforcement, treatment, care, rehabilitation and education.
We will continue to listen and learn, and to invest and evaluate, and we will be led by evidence and research. We will also support better performance and check that that performance is being achieved. I commend the action plan to Parliament, as a significant step in the Executive's drive to tackle drug misuse by destroying the demand for drugs and protecting young people and communities from the harm of drug misuse in Scotland.
On behalf of the Scottish National party, I welcome the minister's statement, particularly the tone of his language and the emphasis that he placed on prevention, treatment and care.
All members of the Scottish Parliament who want the Parliament to achieve something realise that we must tackle the issue of drug misuse. Bearing in mind the number of drug-related deaths in Glasgow, I should like to hear from the minister how soon he thinks that the moneys that he is putting on the table for prevention and rehabilitation will be available.
This week, I visited Brenda House, which is one of the few places in Scotland that is available to women who seek rehabilitation. There is consternation over the number of women who have suffered because of the problems in Glasgow. Having talked to people at Brenda House, I am concerned about what will happen to the current support from local authorities for places such as Brenda House. There are concerns about how quickly the money that the minister has made available will reach those in need. Following the drugs debate in January, it was announced that social inclusion partnerships would have access to money for work in that area, but the announcement on where that money would go was made only two weeks ago.
I welcome what the minister said about information and finding out what is happening on the ground. The position of most of us in the Parliament was reflected in the January debate, when Richard Simpson called for a cross-party committee. The debate had a different tone from what would have been likely at Westminster. I welcome the minister's recognition of the prevention and rehabilitation issues, but when will the money that has been announced reach those who are in need now? The evidence on the ground is that it is needed now; people cannot wait for things to happen in six months, 12 months or two years. We welcome the money being made available, but I should like to hear from the minister when the distribution will take place.
A substantial amount of the £27 million additional expenditure is now being put into use in the field. The £2 million which I announced today—£1 million for treatment and £1 million for rehabilitation—is available for the current financial year. We must consult the drug action teams on how they want to see that expenditure shaped and framed, but our intention is that, once that consultation has taken place, the expenditure should go straight into the field at the earliest opportunity. We do not intend it to be a lengthy or bureaucratic process. The £2 million will go directly into services in the front line; it will be targeted to help those with acute drug misuse problems.
I associate myself with some of Fiona Hyslop's comments and thank the minister for the courtesy of his statement.
In the debate in January, we said that we wanted to see a new tone and new language on drugs. The minister has responded to that today, and that is welcome. The issue is serious and must be tackled quickly, effectively and in a no-nonsense manner. Today's statement makes a start.
I particularly welcome what the minister said about treatment in prisons. Will he comment on the inadequate provision at Glenochil Young Offenders Institution? For some people, prison is the only chance to get help with their drug problem.
The minister mentioned his visit to Queens, New York. I notice that that was at the same time as Judge Jeffrey Tauber was in Scotland with other American experts; I attended his seminar, as did many others with an interest. Why was the minister over there when they were all over here?
I am grateful that the minister quantified the amount being spent in this area: £250 million is a lot of money. The division of 40 per cent for rehabilitation, 15 per cent for prevention and 45 per cent for enforcement will surprise many people. The emphasis on rehabilitation and prevention is an important balance to spending on enforcement, much though we welcome the much-trumpeted announcement on the Drugs Enforcement Agency. So it is a start—although it is very long journey.
The Executive has sought to stress at every opportunity that we want to follow a balanced strategy that will put proper enforcement measures in place but which also recognises that reducing and preferably destroying demand for drugs is where success is ultimately most likely. I hope that the drugs action plan gives even more urgency to the pursuit of that balanced strategy. The strategy was set out in "Tackling Drugs in Scotland", launched two years ago and endorsed by the Executive soon after the Parliament came into being.
I am not familiar with the diary or travel arrangements of Mr Tauber, so I was not able to construct the opportunity to look at American approaches to tackling drug misuse around his movements.
It might be helpful if I punch up some of the specific points in the drugs action plan, which will make a significant impact in some of the areas that Lyndsay McIntosh mentioned. I have already mentioned the national drug misuse research programme, which will be funded to a value of £2 million over the next three years. The prevention and effectiveness unit will be funded to the value of £300,000, and we will publish the specific progress targets by the autumn of this year.
Beyond that, the document makes explicit the need for consistency of work with young people, through school and community education and through detached youth work for the most vulnerable. It also makes explicit the need and our intention to pursue more non-custodial approaches, learning from the drug court model about the use of rehabilitation, testing and parole. It stresses the importance of linking treatment regimes to rehabilitation, with proper access to education and training. Those are significant steps forward.
In respect of prisons, the document makes clear the Executive's commitment to far greater drug action team involvement in the work on drugs that takes place in Scottish prisons. We also look forward to the forthcoming publication of the revamped Scottish Prison Service drugs strategy, which will consider rehabilitation and treatment in the round. Although I do not want to get too far ahead in trying to predict the contents of that revamped strategy, I think that members will be pleased with what they will read when it is published.
Like other members, I welcome the direction of the minister's statement, but the proof of a strategy is in its effective implementation. I especially welcome the fact that policy will be increasingly research and evidence based.
Does the minister agree that our strategy should be based increasingly on the national treatment outcome study, which showed that for every £1 spent on treatment, rehabilitation and after-care, £3 was saved on enforcement? He will also be aware of the even more dramatic figures produced by the Rand Foundation in the United States, which show a return for every $1 spent on enforcement of just 50 cents. I hope that the minister will take that issue on board.
I welcome the extra money for treatment, but does the minister agree that it falls far short of what we need to deal with Scotland's estimated 30,000 plus addicts, 12,500 to 15,000 of whom are in Glasgow? If we are really to tackle the problem, we must spend more on treatment—it is not public spending, but public investment—in view of the fact that addicts acquire illegally £400 million a year to finance their habit. Of that sum, £190 million is acquired in the city of Glasgow alone.
Does the minister agree that we must deal with the inequality of service provision in Scotland? As recently as yesterday, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Drugs Forum testified to that inequality to the Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee. I am afraid that treatment services in Scotland are incredibly patchy, as the minister well knows. The Ayrshire and Arran Health Board area, which is demographically similar to Fife, has much better treatment services for drug addicts.
Finally, will the minister give us a detailed breakdown of the £250 million? I do not ask him to do so now, but I should be grateful if he provided us with a detailed breakdown of how that £250 million is spent. Will he also assure us that the prevention and effectiveness unit will not draw resources away from the front line? There are concerns among drug agencies that a lot of money is being spent within the Scottish Executive on the public health policy unit and now on the prevention and effectiveness unit. The money should really go into the front line to help problematic drug misusers.
The thrust of my announcement today is to emphasise that we are looking closely at the treatment and rehabilitation side of the equation. We recognise that, in cash terms, money can indeed be saved by investing in treatment and prevention. However, this is not simply a cash-driven policy. It is also about human outcomes and about impacts on communities.
Later this year, I shall be publishing the work of the policy unit in relation to the sum of more than £250 million. Prior to publication, there is further work to do in researching and in refining the initial cast over the figures. That information will be made available.
I hear what Keith Raffan says about injecting further investment into treatment and rehabilitation. In my statement, I indicated that we are currently in the midst of a budgeting round. I hope to be able to make a further announcement once that budgeting round is concluded. The £2 million announced today is very much an interim measure, and Keith Raffan should not regard the book as being closed.
There is a clear debate and agenda to be progressed. We must put the extra money into treatment and rehabilitation, as I announced today. However, when we consider that the budget is in excess of £250 million, we must also guarantee to ourselves and to the agencies and the people who need help in the field that we are delivering value for money. I make no apology whatever for the remit and existence of the prevention and effectiveness unit in assessing the work of all the agencies. It will assess not only the work of the voluntary sector but that of local authorities and the Executive—everyone who is involved in the field—because we need to know what works and what does not. If an initiative is not working, we must switch the resources into the initiatives that are working. This is not about taking resources away from the front line; it is about making available to the front line more of the existing resources. We must pursue that value-for-money agenda at the same time as trying to put in more resources.
I join my colleagues in welcoming the minister's statement as yet another step along the way to developing an effective strategy to deal with a problem that is not getting better but is getting worse.
I particularly welcome the analysis of the £250 million—we look forward to receiving the detail of that—and the mapping of all existing services, which is an exercise that is fundamental to our understanding of the drugs problem.
I thank Fiona Hyslop for referring to my motion. The Parliament should have a committee on drugs as it is such an important issue. We must play our part collectively so that we can monitor and sometimes challenge the work of the ministerial committee on tackling drug misuse. A parliamentary committee on drugs would also provide a focus for people who might wish to comment on the strategy in other ways. My motion, which was signed by 32 members, lapsed during the recess. I have now resubmitted it and I hope that members will sign it, so that we can move towards establishing that committee, although I appreciate that we are having difficulties with the amount of time that members are able to spend in committees.
I want to raise a specific issue, which illustrates the problem of using AIDS funding for drug-related work in many areas. In the Forth valley area, there is a risk that the health board's drug action team will run out of funding in September. While the board has agreed to continue funding the team until April next year, the rejigging of AIDS funding has caused difficulties. I know that the minister has been involved in discussions about those difficulties, and it would be interesting to learn whether that is a general problem or whether it is specific to my constituency.
I welcome the developments on social inclusion partnerships. While those developments have been slower than some members would like, it is important that we get them right. I hope that the minister will support groups such as Locals Against Drugs in Alloa, in my constituency, which has now received funding. I hope that he will ensure that bureaucracy of the support systems that we are putting in place is minimised for such groups and that he will address the question of funding beyond three years—this is not a short-term issue—so that they do not have to start considering exit strategies before they have begun their work.
I worked in the Scottish Prison Service for 26 years, and have seen the huge changes in prisons brought about by the fact that the overwhelming majority of prisoners have committed drug-related offences or are involved in drugs. Drugs are a crucial problem in prisons, and one of the most difficult aspects of that problem is the fact that remand and custodial sentences might interrupt a prisoner's through-care. As part of the Prison Service's new drugs strategy, which is about to be published, I hope that the minister will address the problems caused to the management and support of drug addicts when they are interrupted by remand and short-term sentences.
I was taken slightly by surprise by Dr Simpson's final comments.
Dr Simpson raised a number of important issues, and I welcome his comments on social inclusion partnerships, which are performing extremely important work. In my statement, I did not explicitly mention the longer-term social inclusion approach of the Executive, which is designed to begin to undermine the environmental factors that support and encourage drug misuse. That approach should not be understated.
I understand the issues for many local groups on three-year funding, but it seems to me that it was not so long ago that many groups and authorities were clamouring vociferously for a move from annual funding to three-year funding. We have quickly moved beyond that to a desire for stability beyond three years. I hope that that indicates that there has been some movement in our approach to funding, but I recognise that, none the less, commitments beyond three years would be helpful to allow groups to plan for the longer-term delivery and expansion of services. Of course, at all times we will do what we can to try to secure such arrangements.
The subject of drug action teams and bureaucracy is important. I believe emphatically that drug action teams are best placed to bring together the efforts of the key agencies—the police, local authorities, the voluntary sector and so on—and they represent the best chance of avoiding bureaucracy and of shaping key service delivery in local areas. At every stage when we have had meetings with drug action teams, we have been keen to emphasise the minimisation of red tape and bureaucracy.
In respect of prisons, I know that the Minister for Communities and her department already have a strategy under way to maximise the availability and effectiveness of through-care for individuals leaving prison. I would not want that to be undermined by any other conflicting priorities or policy changes elsewhere. The role of the Prison Service is important. In the years to come, prisons will have to deal with a great number of people who are there directly because of drug misuse problems or who have serious drug misuse problems that are incidental to the crimes that they have committed.
We want to break out of the situation in which people are convicted of crimes, sentenced and sent to prison, only to have them come out six months or one, two, three or four years later and go back into the same pattern of drug misuse and offending activity. We have to take people out of that cycle, and give them the opportunity to confront their drug misuse so that they can start to make a positive contribution to the communities that they came from.
I add my voice to the general welcome for the statement. In particular, I welcome the minister's phrase:
"Treatment benefits drug misusers and cuts drug-related crime."
He will agree with me, therefore, that treatment should continue throughout the entire process of the justice system, and his statement shows that. As he might expect, I am interested in his experience of the New York drug court. He will know that the Scottish National party has been arguing for such courts in Scotland. I wonder whether I might tempt him to expand on what he thinks we can learn from that US practice, especially given the recent newspaper hints that he might be a convert to that policy.
I had some interesting experiences when I was present at the drug court, one of which was the judge inviting me to join him at the bar while he was hearing cases. I declined that particular invitation, because I did not think that it would go down too well back home. Members will be interested to know that at the conclusion of one individual's 18 months in rehabilitation through the drug court, the judge left the bench in order, I thought, to shake hands with the woman concerned. Instead, he gave her a large hug. There were many tears all round. It is perhaps difficult to imagine Scottish judges and sheriffs engaging in such activity, but there is an important lesson to be learned.
I am not particularly concerned by the bureaucracy or administration that is associated with drug courts. We need not become overly concerned about that. The key lesson is which elements of drug courts work, and where they deliver benefit and added value. They are successful when they take a first-time offender with a drug misuse history and give them the opportunity directly to confront their own drug misuse problems, by placing them in supervised rehabilitation programmes with regular testing and a requirement to come back before the court so that their progress can be evaluated and monitored. At the end of a period of between 12 and 18 months, the individual, if successful, has beaten their drug misuse problem and is then able to try to confront some of the other issues in their life. If they fail, they face a period of imprisonment, which is what would have happened anyway in ordinary circumstances.
I saw many things in the United States. I saw five or six excellent ideas and initiatives, not all of which can be replicated in the Scottish criminal justice system or in our other departmental set-ups, but the approach of drug courts bears further examination, and we are actively considering how we can take the best elements of that system and incorporate them in our Scottish justice system. If we can do that, I am keen to move ahead with that approach.
Without making a sour point, I am slightly disappointed by the minister's words. Perhaps that is based on the fact that I recognise the minister's commitment and the honest urgency with which he treats the issue. I have great confidence in his dealing with the issue in the longer term, but many of his words today concentrated on research, discussion groups, further training and consultation. Those things have been talked about over the years. I recall a select committee on which I served at Westminster, which was chaired by Labour member Willie McKelvey. All the issues that are addressed in the action plan were covered at that time; we are not moving forward to any great extent. Every day we hear of further expansion of the disease of drug abuse, and that causes real fear and concern.
One or two points are welcome. I welcome the proposed job support and recognise that that is an important measure. It is also a very costly measure; it is a question not just of finding a position for someone, but of breaking peer links—
On a point of order.
Yes. I know the point of order; I am listening carefully. You must ask a question, Mr Gallie.
All right. What funding is necessary for the job support scheme that the minister envisages?
I go along with Dr Simpson's comments on prisons. When—and in what form—will the minister publish further advice on what should be happening in prisons? In prisons, the drug culture is expanding; that issue must be addressed.
I think that I mentioned in my statement, and certainly in reply to an earlier question, that the revamped Scottish Prison Service strategy for tackling drug treatment and rehabilitation in its institutions will be published very shortly. By that, I mean in a matter of weeks; perhaps in months, but more likely in weeks. Members can expect to see that revamped strategy very soon.
I am sorry that Phil Gallie was disappointed in part by the statement. A close look at the statement, and the drugs action plan, shows clear movement. Perhaps the most important aspect of that is the commitment to agreeing specific targets for enforcement, treatment, care, rehabilitation and education, against which the Executive—and the drug action teams and various supporting agencies in the voluntary sector and elsewhere—can be measured. That measurement will be done over a period to see whether we are making progress, and making progress fast enough. That is a new and significant departure, and will impart a far greater sense of urgency to our approach.
The document is explicit, as I was in my statement, about taking forward, for example, on-going education work in primary and secondary schools and adding to that a clear community element and detached youth outreach work, to ensure that those who are most at risk are given the information and support that they require to protect them.
I made an explicit commitment to greater direct drug action team involvement in prison work. I mentioned that we would have drugs strategy co-ordinators in every prison. Those things are immediate and now; they are not planned for some indeterminate point in the future. Some are under way; others will happen very soon.
Beyond that, and perhaps most crucially, apart from the £2 million that I announced today for treatment and rehabilitation, I was explicit about our plans for an expansion in rehabilitation facilities. Short of making a specific announcement about what that will mean on the ground, I could not be much more proactive than I have been today. I hope to come to the chamber in the near future with more detail of what comes out of the budget round and how some of those things are panning out.
We will now have a model question from Margo MacDonald.
I will do what other folk have not done: I will ask a question. Will the minister explain exactly what the strategy is for the drugs action plan? As Richard Simpson pointed out, drug use is on the increase, and the £250 million that already goes into tackling drugs does not appear to be reaching whatever targets have been identified to date.
Is the strategy to reduce drug use? Everything that the minister said today related to heroin. He did not talk about drug use in a wider sense. If we are to have a strategy, we must know which drugs we are talking about, who is using them, and why, where and when they are doing that. We must also have research and evidence that will provide the minister with the information on which to base his strategic objectives.
On a point of order.
No. [Laughter.]
Can the minister say this week whether he is satisfied that the research and evidence that is produced for him and on which he builds his strategy is sufficient to enable him to identify the drugs that we are talking about?
I am not sure whether Margo MacDonald was present for the whole debate.
I was.
Yes, she was.
In my statement, I made it clear that we will launch the national drug misuse research programme in the summer. That programme is drawn up not by the Executive, but by a research sub-group of the Scottish advisory committee on drug misuse, in which the Executive participates but which encompasses a range of experts from outwith the Executive. We want far more detailed, accurate and up-to-date research into what is happening on the ground, to inform our perspective on the nature and shape of the different types of drug misuse problem in Scotland, and to inform the organisations on the ground better about the nature of the problem that they face, so that they can shape their services to deal with it.
I will give one example. I said that we were likely to prioritise the issue of how young people start to smoke heroin and then move to injecting the drug. That raises questions about how the drugs market operates. We know that it is a lucrative and aggressive business, and that dealers are keen to push cannabis to young children, because they can do that relatively easily. It is short step for them to move young people on from smoking cannabis to smoking heroin, which is considerably more addictive. Issues of that sort need to be researched. We need to know exactly what the mechanics of the trade are.
I thank the minister for his statement. I welcome especially his comments on involving and listening to communities. Having visited DATs around Scotland, is he aware of any examples of good practice in involving communities in the decision-making process? What steps will be taken to ensure that the views of communities are given equal weight to those of professionals working in the field?
If I were to single out one drug action team that has been more effective than others in involving communities and user groups, it would be the Glasgow drug action team, which has been particularly proactive in seeking the views of communities. That is to be welcomed. Any locally based approach to structuring services that have legitimacy in local communities must arise, at least in part, out of the experiences, feelings and views of the communities concerned. The Glasgow drug action team has been successful in identifying local community groups and inviting them to participate in the shaping of services.
The team has also forged links with drug misuser groups. Like the education message that we send out to children, information and services that we make available to drug misusers must be put across to those people in terms to which they can relate. The Glasgow drug action team has used drug misusers to capture valuable information from other drug misusers, using appropriate language and in appropriate circumstances, on the nature of their drug misuse problem and the services that they are most likely to access, at what time and in which places. I do not think that we can overemphasise the importance of community representatives, community groups and drug misusers in shaping services that have relevance and coherence on the ground.
I apologise to members who have not been called. I have allowed considerable latitude because of the importance of the topic, but I must protect this morning's debate.