Chamber and committees

Thank you very much for those remarks. We now turn to questions from members. We have a few themes to explore, the first of which is how the updated forecasts compare with the December forecasts. Thank you for setting the scene.

The first questions will be asked by my colleague Paul McLennan, who will be followed by Jeremy Balfour.

I ask the First Minister for her response to the research that was published yesterday by the University of Glasgow and the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, which she referenced earlier, which suggests that people across the United Kingdom are dying younger as a result of UK Government austerity.

Will the member take an intervention?

Back in the mid-2000s, when I did a lot of work with people experiencing drug use, I would traipse round lots of GP practices trying to get prescriptions for benzodiazepines for those people, but general practice had wholesale stopped prescribing those, due to the fact that they were being sold on the open market. Does the member agree that that is one key area where we perhaps saw a shift in the way that Scotland dealt with drugs and drug deaths?

I thank the convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee for opening this important debate. That committee rightly highlights the point that drug deaths and problem drug use are a public health issue. While there continues to be debate over whether this is a public health or criminal justice issue, we need to keep in mind that it is primarily a social justice issue. Drug deaths do not often occur in more wealthy populations; they are a distressing and wholly avoidable indicator of inequality, deprivation, poverty and trauma.

The Scottish Association of Social Workers told us:

“Poverty is still one of the leading contributing factors for substance use and so a wider focus on tackling poverty and inequality is essential. The impact of poverty, food insecurity, fuel poverty and digital exclusion on Scotland’s families and communities is devastating and increases the risk of pushing individuals toward drug use. Harmful drug use is also most damaging to communities already struggling with disadvantage, poverty and marginalisation.”

Those are complex, structural problems that are far from unique to Scotland. We need to redouble our efforts to tackle the underlying causes of poverty and inequality—all of us in the Scottish Parliament, across all committees, must commit to that task.

Our joint work across three committees is a great example of widening the focus, but it is not an easy task.

I thank the member for the intervention. Aside from repeating what Ms Martin has already said, I point to the fact that we have a multifaceted issue with polydrug use that is unique to Scotland, which might explain some of the issues that we face.

If the Social Justice and Social Security Committee does anything, it highlights the complexity of such issues, recognising that the life of every individual in Scotland does not fit into a single remit. As a committee, we have heard that individuals can get trapped in a funnelled web of complex issues that can become ever worse. For someone with little income, just one event—losing a job, taking on caring responsibilities, an increase in fuel costs—can start a downward, often lonely, spiral. For someone who is experiencing multiple, severe and complex disadvantage, the risk of problem substance abuse multiplies.

In our current inquiry on problem debt and low incomes, we are hearing that many families and individuals are in no position to build any financial resilience. They cannot absorb the shock of changes in circumstances, which can also impact hugely on their emotional resilience.

Poverty is a feature not only of unemployment, as those in low-paid, precarious jobs also face significant financial challenges. Many people struggle with their mental health because of debt, and some people with existing mental health problems find it hard to engage with services and support to help them get out of debt. As we have heard, stigma also magnifies these issues. We know that, with not enough to live on now and in the face of the cost of living crisis, some people are at real risk.

We know that the reasons why someone turns to drugs are complex and dependent on many factors. For some, it is youthful experimentation; for others, what might have started as recreational use will progress into escapism and self-medication—the means to a way out of a hopeless situation when other means seem not to exist.

However, there is a light on the horizon. We are hopeful that the trend that we have seen over the past year, of a decrease in drug-related deaths, will continue—remaining mindful, however, that any such death is one too many. In a personal and work-related capacity, I know just how devastating a loss is and how far the ripples go. That tentative but positive decrease in deaths is the result of specific actions that have been taken to provide holistic support. The housing first approach recognises the social barriers that people face; the impact of the lack of that most fundamental of needs, a safe place to call home; and the need for services to gather around vulnerable people.

Organisations such as Simon Community Scotland, Faces and Voices of Recovery UK, We Are With You and Turning Point Scotland tell us that it is not just about prevention of death and further harm, but about working with people over a long time and at their own pace, providing the support that they need and recognising a sometimes traumatic past.

Turning Point Scotland says that, although the complexity of need was identified as a priority for the task force, no specific recommendations were made. It calls for greater integration and strategic thinking so that work across the system is co-ordinated. It also highlights the positive step that homelessness prevention looks set to become a duty across the public service system, though it emphasises that co-ordination is required across public services to realise the good intentions of policy.

What can prevent that holy grail of co-ordination of services around the needs of individuals, or the no-wrong-door approach for all those who need support? We are made aware daily of the brilliant, innovative and compassionate projects that respond to need. We saw how quickly we could respond to need, particularly homelessness, during the pandemic, and we know that systems can change. The system that creates poverty needs to change.

To conclude, there are different layers to the problem: the immediate joined-up compassionate support that a person needs to prevent them falling further; the actions of public services to ensure that all that they do is co-ordinated, agile and aligned with the third sector, which is crucial in this; and, finally, the need to end the structural unfairness that makes people vulnerable in the first place, which we all have the power to end but which is perhaps the hardest, though the most crucial, thing to achieve.

We will now ask questions on the theme of balancing the interests of creditors and those of people with debt problems. The deputy convener, Natalie Don, will kick us off.

Richard, we seem to have lost connection with you.

Our last question in this session is from Pam Duncan-Glancy.

Good morning and welcome to the 17th meeting in 2022 of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. Our first item of business is to decide whether to take items 4, 5 and 6 in private. Do we agree to do so?

Members indicated agreement.