Chamber and committees

Thank you. It is great to be here for what looks like an exciting meeting.

Agenda item 3 is subordinate legislation. The committee took oral evidence on the draft Cross-border Placements (Effect of Deprivation of Liberty Orders) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 at its two most recent meetings. On 18 May, the committee heard from officials from the office of the Children and Young People’s Commissioner, and at its meeting last week, the committee took evidence from the Minister for Children and Young People, Clare Haughey, and Scottish Government officials.

The minister has returned to the committee today to move motion S6M-04165, in her name, which I invite her to do.

Motion moved,

That the Education, Children and Young People Committee recommends that the Cross-border Placements (Effect of Deprivation of Liberty Orders) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 be approved.—[Clare Haughey]

We are having an issue with the connection. We will sort that out. In the meantime, perhaps Audrey Cumberford would like to respond to the question.

Personally, I think that it is an absolute shame that people continue to die from drug-related causes in Scotland. I repeat that it is an absolute shame.

The Scottish Conservatives believe that a different approach is needed to help people who suffer from addictions. The SNP Government must listen to front-line experts and back our proposed right to recovery bill, which would guarantee treatment for those most in need. The key principle that underlies our proposed bill is to ensure that everybody who seeks treatment for addiction to drugs and/or alcohol can access the treatment that they require. Individuals must not be refused treatment from drug and alcohol addiction services.

Angela Constance said that she would give our proposed right to recovery bill proper consideration to see whether it will do what is claimed. She has confirmed that she backs the principle that people who suffer from addiction should have a right to treatment and that our proposed bill will be given a fair and sympathetic hearing. That shift in language from the minister is welcome.

The consultation on our proposed bill showed that more than 77 per cent of respondents backed plans to guarantee treatment for those suffering with addiction. The bill was drafted alongside front-line experts, who are overwhelmingly positive about the plans. We all know that no single measure can help to tackle the scandal of Scotland’s drug deaths, but a guarantee of being able to access treatment can signal a new approach in that fight.

Annemarie Ward from the charity Faces & Voices of Recovery UK—FAVOR UK—who helped to draft the bill alongside the party, has also welcomed Angela Constance’s change of direction towards the proposed legislation. FAVOR Scotland said it had been told privately by some SNP MSPs that they will support the bill.

We have services that are currently inflexible. Addiction and mental health are constantly changing, and services need to adapt to that. Our services need to adapt to the individuals; the individuals should not be adapting to the services.

Stigma has rightly been mentioned. Many people are ashamed to admit to their issues and to seek the help that they require. We believe that our proposed right to recovery bill will help with that issue, as it will provide everyone with a statutory right to addiction and recovery treatment services.

In September 2021, the Lord Advocate announced that class A drug users could be let off with a recorded police warning. The SNP’s effective decriminalisation of class A drugs will mean that thousands get away with drug use. It is estimated that, of the 30,469 crimes of drug possession recorded in 2019-20, 7,000 were for possession of class A drugs.

No, I am carrying on for the moment, thank you.

Disappointingly, the SNP Government has refused to sign up to a UK Government scheme to tackle drug dealing and organised crime. Project ADDER—addiction, diversion, disruption, enforcement and recovery—is a UK-wide initiative with £150 million of investment in England and Wales that is designed to tackle addiction and the supply of illegal substances. Project ADDER helps people with their addictions and assists them access recovery, but it also takes a hard-line stance in targeting the criminality associated with drug gangs.

The UK policing minister called the SNP’s decision not to sign up to the scheme “deeply ... alarming and distressing”. Scotland’s drug deaths are a national crisis, yet the SNP refuses to engage with such schemes. Surely, it should try anything, especially schemes such as Project ADDER, where there is evidence of their being effective.

We know that the Drug Deaths Taskforce recommended safe drug consumption rooms and that the SNP Government says that it is moving forward with plans to establish such rooms. However, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said that “stronger evidence” is needed before he could support drug consumption rooms.

The Scottish Conservatives will not oppose the use of drug consumption rooms, but we have serious reservations about their operation. As Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said, we need to proceed with caution. Therefore, although we will not oppose a pilot, if that is the route the Scottish Government is to take, we need to see more evidence on their use.

Drug consumption rooms are not a silver bullet; they will not solve all our problems. However, unlike the SNP Government, we will consider all options to tackle the crisis.

I am looking for leadership and pragmatism from the SNP Government. I would hope that our approach is reciprocated and that the Scottish Government also takes that approach by accepting Project ADDER and our game-changing proposed right to recovery bill. The final bill proposal, which was developed with the help of those with lived experience, was lodged by Douglas Ross yesterday.

Our bill will save lives. It will provide a statutory right to addiction and recovery treatment services, including, but not exclusively, residential rehabilitation. Now that it has successfully passed through the consultation stage, it is time for the SNP Government to throw its weight behind it, so that we can tackle this national scandal once and for all.

Under the Scottish National Party, drug-related deaths have spiralled out of control. It is clear that the SNP’s current strategies to help people who are struggling with addiction have failed. There was a record number of deaths in 2020 and the death rate is 3.5 times that of the rest of the UK. It is also higher than in any European country.

That scandal is Scotland’s national shame. It goes without saying that every death brought about by the misuse of drugs is a tragedy, not only for the victim but for their family and friends. We cannot go on like this. Lives are being lost and families are being torn apart.

I have recognised that—I mentioned that the Lord Advocate made that announcement.

We are dismayed that a single public health approach is being taken. An element of justice must be involved. We believe that the possession of class A drugs is a serious offence and should not be dealt with through warnings. Rather than making the police’s job to combat the supply of drugs more difficult, our focus should be on improving access to rehabilitation and treatment.

That is great. Does anybody else want to come in?

A lot has been covered. I thank Kimberley Somerside for recognising how the four sessions on Friday and Monday went. To address Artemis Pana’s concerns about a trade-off, the information that we gain from the informal sessions will very much shape our formal inquiry.

It is about getting richer evidence and involving many more people—I think that Mhairi Wylie said that it is not just about the well-kent faces—and if this inquiry facilitates that, we need to grasp it. How can we capitalise on that and make the approach even better? Are there any other changes that could make it even easier to engage? I ask Liam Fowley that question, if that is okay, because I am looking at him.

We welcome the statement, which has provided some clarity on the Scottish Government’s approach to tackling this national shame. With 1,339 drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2020, it is clear that the national mission that has been set by the Government desperately needs to succeed.

I am glad that there is more detail on spending and accountability, and I thank the minister for looking at how accountability can be improved at all levels. Accountability is key to making real progress on the ground, but more clarification is needed on who is ultimately responsible for ensuring consistent implementation of the MAT standards. There are the First Minister, the Minister for Drugs Policy, the drug deaths task force, alcohol and drug partnerships and now the national mission implementation group. I have a straightforward question: who is ultimately accountable for delivering the national mission, and how are all those groups working together to tackle our national shame?

More specifically, time and again, I speak to people who have been on methadone for over two decades. They are desperate to come off it and on to a more modern and safe opiate replacement. MAT standard 2 states:

“All people”

should be

“supported to make an informed choice on what medication to use for MAT, and the appropriate dose.”

I know that I have asked this before, but what can the Scottish Government do to accelerate and facilitate movement of those people to safer replacement therapies, such as Buvidal?

That is great—thank you. We have heard today about inequality in life expectancy, which Gerry McCartney spoke about at length. Scotland has the lowest life expectancy of the four UK nations, despite its higher public spending. Scotland and the US are the only countries at the bottom of the life expectancy table that are not eastern European. After comparison with the other UK nations, the assumption could be made that the situation is not because of Covid. What might be creating the perfect storm of issues in Scotland?