Chamber and committees

That leads on to my next question. How can the interdependencies between various spending areas be better taken into account when making budget systems and looking at performance frameworks?

Talking about that final year of life, there are also all the hospital admissions and so on. We are always talking about bringing down the number of admissions, but obviously that is something that is not quite so movable.

Many of my questions have been answered or touched on. We have heard about the care and wellbeing dashboard. We hear a lot that short-term targets can drive decision making, but I am interested in longer-term objectives. What can we do to encourage setting of budgets with that in mind?

Certainly.

Great, thank you.

I thank Miles Briggs for securing this debate during international recovery month and for bravely sharing his experiences today. I am also beyond grateful to all the organisations that are involved in the powerful and vital “See Beyond—See the Lives—Scotland” campaign and to those who are sitting in the public gallery.

I give my sincere condolences to every person, family member, partner and friend who has tragically lost a loved one to alcohol, drugs or both. I have spoken before in the chamber about my family’s loss, so I will not go into that today, but we know that the issue touches all our lives, as Miles Briggs said.

Such deaths are preventable, yet every day in Scotland we lose more than six people in that way. All the people who have died recently or in years gone by are people whom our system failed.

Problem substance use is a complex issue that is often intricately connected with challenges of poverty, mental health, generational trauma or one-off events. It is critical to consider the social, cultural and economic drivers.

The impact of deindustrialisation remains stark, and that holds particularly true for my Uddingston and Bellshill constituency. Once a proud centre of coal mines and steelworks, Lanarkshire was sadly transformed, and mass unemployment and persistent poverty descended. Too many people found solace in using substances to escape the grinding reality of a life that they felt was devoid of joy or hope.

The most recent recorded local statistics show that there were 76 suspected drug deaths there during the first six months of this year—one of the highest recorded levels in Scotland. However, on a positive note, as we have already heard, many organisations are truly person centred and trauma informed, and focus on the whole person and their whole wellbeing.

In my constituency, the Blue Triangle service operates at the intersection of social care and social justice in a system that is designed to fix people issue by issue. The service says:

“We see the person, not their stuff, and our Mission is to Empower People to Thrive ... to provide a Springboard, not a Safety Net”.

The Beacons centre in nearby Blantyre is also fantastic. A young woman there bravely spoke of her personal battles with mental health and substance use, as well as the stigma that she experienced. She said:

“I was a dancer, I had ambition ... it just happened that there was deprivation, inequalities and adverse childhood experiences that got me.

Stigma is a barrier to recovery; you are so scared that you will be punished, or kids taken away from you”.

She said that the fear of losing her kids was terrifying, but what helped her recovery was being valued and accepted and rebuilding a sense of control and hope, not judgment, punishment or blame.

Stigma and inaccurate perceptions are devastating. They shatter self-esteem and confidence and limit individuals’ capacity to seek the essential support and treatment that they need, even when they want it. The media certainly play a role. Yesterday’s green light for Scotland’s first drug consumption room, which will offer easy access to key health and support services, resulted in social media headlines such as

“BREAKING: UK’s first illegal drugs consumption room given go-ahead”

and

“First illegal drugs consumption room”.

Some of those headlines have already gone, but the damage stays. Sadly, a life-saving policy was manipulated to reinforce criminal stereotypes and to dehumanise. As leaders, we must challenge those headlines.

We all have a responsibility to reflect on our communication, words and language; to be kind; to talk about the person, not the substance user; and to be catalysts for kindness, change and social renewal.

To go back to the expansion of early learning and wraparound school care, can you say anything about plans to include childminders in that process?

Thank you. It was really helpful to get that on the record.

We can all agree that hungry kids are not best placed to learn. However, is there evidence that universality increases uptake among the children who need free school meals the most?

I do not know whether that is a question for you, cabinet secretary, or Alison Taylor.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I would have voted yes.