Under the Scottish National Party, the numbers of drug-related deaths have spiralled out of control. The SNP’s current strategies to help those who are struggling with addiction are failing. Despite multiple SNP action plans, Scotland’s drug death rate is still the highest in Europe, and it is 3.7 times higher than that of the UK as a whole. That scandal is Scotland’s national shame, and we cannot go on like this. Lives are being lost, and families are being torn apart.

Everyone is unique, with a specific set of circumstances and a background that may or may not have been involved in triggering their addictive behaviour.

Time and again, when speaking to constituents, patient advocate groups and families whose loved ones are desperately trying to access rehabilitation and recovery services, I hear at first hand about the implementation gap. That gap between the aspirations and plans that have been laid down by the Scottish Government and what has actually been delivered is vast.

We do wrong by persistently and consistently having static services, unclear care, complex pathways, and processes that are clunky and anything but flexible. Flexibility is key if we are to truly have person-centred care, with the person genuinely at the heart of the delivery of services.

Constantly, I hear of frustration, exasperation and the harsh realities of the difficulties, barriers and walls that are put in people’s way, preventing them from receiving quick access to rehabilitation services for alcohol or drugs. As the minister stated in her opening remarks, that reinforces stigma.

We must be clear. In March, Audit Scotland’s “Drug and alcohol services: An update” found that only 35 per cent of the 60,000 people with drug problems in Scotland are in treatment, compared with 60 per cent in England. A report from drug campaigners and recovery experts claims that Scotland’s politicians have “forgotten” about the drug death crisis. I want to make it clear that I have not.

The Faces & Voices of Recovery UK one-year report, published this week, states that there has been “almost no progress” towards reducing the rate of drug deaths in Scotland—the worst rate in Europe. FAVOR’s “Blueprint to Save Lives” makes six key recommendations to improve the current addiction, recovery and treatment system. The recommendations are:

“Introduce a clear definition of a residential rehabilitation place ... Introduce a centralised referral and funding system to end the postcode lottery to residential rehabilitation ... Introduce guidelines to ensure that psycho-social and mental health support is provided alongside substance management and pharmaceutical treatment ... Introduce statistics to measure the number of people waiting more than six months, 12 months and 24 months for residential rehabilitation places”.

Thank you, Presiding Officer.

I understand the minister’s point about it being a very complex environment and the fact that it takes time to get people in that position to come to such facilities. However, my point stands. Given the long period before Harper house opened, I would have hoped that a few more families would be benefiting from the critical service that it provides, which will save lives.

There continues to be an ever-widening gap between the SNP’s warm words on the drug deaths scandal and the reality of how little action it is continuing to take. As I have said, the gap between what is said and what is delivered when it comes to the processes that people have to go through to access such critical services is widening. The Scottish Conservatives believe that a different approach is needed to help people who are suffering from addictions, and we hope that the SNP Government will finally start listening to the front-line experts and back our proposed right to addiction recovery bill, which would guarantee treatment for those people who need it most.

I move amendment S6M-06924.1, to leave out from “calls” to end and insert:

“notes that FAVOR UK’s report, One Year Report—Blueprint to Save Lives, published on 21 November 2022, highlights significant challenges faced by those affected by a drug addiction, including many individuals being required to wait for years to access vital treatment; is concerned that, despite multiple action plans, Scotland still has the highest drug death rate in Europe, and 3.7 times higher than the UK as a whole; expresses concern that stigma is especially problematic amongst those with hepatitis C, with 90% of new hepatitis C infections occurring through sharing contaminated injecting equipment; urges the Scottish Government to implement the recommendations of the Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce, particularly in regards to the ‘no wrong door’ approach, which will stop people struggling with drug use being turned away from service providers, and calls on the Scottish Government to back the Proposed Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill, which would enshrine in law a right to treatment, so that all those affected by addiction in Scotland can get the support they need.”

Yes. In the opening part of my speech, I said that everyone is unique. All individuals need tailored packages so that they are not left jumping through hoops to get support.

The fifth recommendation is:

“Introduce a Right to Recovery Bill to ensure that the Scottish Government MAT Standards are actually implemented”,

and the sixth is:

“Return to community not centralised services.”

FAVOR Scotland’s chief executive officer, Anne Marie Ward, said:

“We hoped government investment and the introduction of new guidelines would improve things but unfortunately, the system remains as broken today as it was a year ago.”

Although there has been a slight decrease in the number of drug-related deaths, it should shock us all that a disproportionate number of women are included in the drug-related deaths, and that that number is increasing. Often, those women have children, which can stop them seeking help, as they do not want to be stigmatised or risk having their children taken away. A system to enable people to access services that suit their family circumstances has been poorly developed, but that is essential if we are to save the lives of those women.

Harper house in Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, was officially opened by the First Minister this week. Last year, it was awarded more than £8 million in Scottish Government grant funding to establish a family rehabilitation service that accepts referrals from across Scotland. The facility means that parents with problematic drug or alcohol use can now enter residential rehabilitation without the fear of being separated from their children. However, only two of the 20 beds have been filled, despite the facility opening for referrals on 5 October this year. The bed numbers at the facility were pitifully low to begin with, but for only one tenth of them to be used almost two months on is deeply concerning.

I would have expected that such a service would, in advance of opening, be well publicised to alcohol and drug partnerships across the country, and that those organisations would already have identified those most in need of the services. We would expect there to be a queue at the door, not an almost empty facility.

It seems that the SNP has learned nothing from its previous grave errors in cutting the number of rehabilitation beds across Scotland. Families whose loved ones are continuing to struggle with addiction are being let down at every turn by the SNP Government, which continues to take its eye off the ball. The implementation gap needs to be tackled urgently. The SNP needs to urgently back the Scottish Conservatives’ plan for a right to recovery bill, which would guarantee access to treatment for everyone who needs it.

It is all too easy for Nicola Sturgeon and Angela Constance to visit that facility, spin some nice rhetoric and take some photos, rather than take the bold action that is required to tackle the record numbers of drug deaths that have occurred on their watch. There continues to be an ever-widening gap between the SNP’s warm words on the drug deaths scandal and the reality.

That is fine—I just wanted to check.

The Drug Deaths Taskforce has recommended that the Scottish Government prioritises intervention at an earlier stage, tackling the root causes of drug dependency, and that links between work on poverty, structural inequality, education and children and young people and work on drug policy be made clearer. Those are things that we hear about across all committee portfolios in relation to early intervention. Will the minister outline what early intervention should look like in this policy area? What steps will she be taking to ensure a more joined-up approach to tackling all the root causes of drug dependency? I note that Mr Briggs mentioned housing issues earlier.

Where does accountability for that lie?

Minister, I have a specific question that follows on from what Paul O’Kane said. What correspondence have you had from Police Scotland, the Crown Office and other justice authorities regarding the proposal for safe consumption rooms, and can you make that public?

Convener, can I also ask a question about the no-wrong-door approach?

Will the minister take an intervention?

The questions from Michael Marra were specifically on numbers and finance, were they not?

It seems that the answer will not be on that, so we will move to questions from Ross Greer.