Chamber and committees

I begin by thanking those who took part in the people’s panel on drug deaths and the cross-committee work on the issue. With a problem as complex and wide ranging as this, it is key that there is cross-portfolio collaboration.

The first sentence of the people’s panel collective statement is a damning assessment of the current situation. It reads:

“The panel strongly believe that the same conversations keep happening, with the same actions being agreed but not enough has been implemented.”

That is right; indeed, some of the panel’s recommendations were made in 2022 by the national task force. The time for talk should be over.

Regardless of that, some of the recommendations are welcome, and I want to discuss two of them. First, on recommendation 17, which is on giving

“continued support for people in recovery ... following referral to services”,

I want to highlight the Midlothian aftercare group as a positive example. It supports graduates from the Lothians and Edinburgh abstinence programme for as long as they need it.

The Scottish Government’s response to the report states that continued support is part of medication assisted treatment—or MAT—standard 5. Although the standard has been implemented in most alcohol and drug partnerships, we need to ensure that its spirit is being followed. The Public Health Scotland review of MAT standard 5 uses the retention of cases for more than six months as a benchmark. Given that we know that addiction can be a lifelong battle and that crisis can derail recovery, we should consider how to ensure that graduates of rehabilitation receive support over a longer timeframe.

I also welcome recommendation 15, which recommends a move away from a zero-tolerance approach. When I met people from the North Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Centre, I heard about the impact of its high-tolerance, holistic approach not only in treating addiction and improving wellbeing, but in saving money for other public services.

Individuals with complex needs can sometimes be labelled as “non-compliant” or “treatment resistant”. Services must meet the needs of individuals so that they can retain them in the long term, and moving away from a zero-tolerance approach is a step towards that.

I know that the minister will talk about funding, but members will have seen the news about the £450 million gap in funding for integration joint boards, and they will also be aware of the financial situation that councils face. Those organisations will be looking to make savings in their funding for alcohol and drug partnerships and services, and we must be clear that there should be no cuts to drug and alcohol services by proxy.

I repeat the people’s panel’s remarks on the actions that need to be implemented. Much has been done and much has been said, but it will be meaningless if the level of deaths remains high and the organisations that prevent drug deaths are not properly supported.

To ask the First Minister whether he will provide an update on how the Scottish Government is working to tackle Islamophobia in Scotland, in light of reports that anti-Muslim hate incidents across the United Kingdom reached record levels in 2024. (S6F-03871)

We should keep the petition open and write to the Scottish Government to ask whether conditions that could be the result of Covid-19 vaccination side effects are being monitored in order to assess whether those with such illnesses are presenting differently.

I am sure that, like me, colleagues are getting emails from people who have long Covid. Can we invite the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to come before us and give evidence?

In 2019, the High Court of Bangladesh conferred legal personhood on the Turag River and, by extension, all rivers in Bangladesh. In the light of that, and in the light of what Mr Sweeney has said, I think that we should keep the petition open. It would be good to write to the Glasgow city region to seek its views on the actions that are called for in the petition and to get information on the work that is being done to deliver the Clyde mission.

I was thinking about the time that we have left.

Can we also write to Police Scotland? If the evidence shows that they have the wrong address, should the person not be given a chance to explain that before the arrest has been made, because that is totally unfair?

I think that we should write to the minister.

We should keep the petition open and write to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to highlight the evidence that the committee has received, and seek an update on any discussions that the cabinet secretary has had with the chief scientific officer about commissioning or supporting research into the impact of diseases that lead to sudden cardiac death in Scotland.

We could also ask what consideration the Scottish Government has given to commissioning a pilot study on voluntary screening, including details of any engagement that it has had with organisations such as the British Heart Foundation, Cardiac Risk in the Young, and Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland on that particular ask of the petition.

Given what the petitioner highlighted in their submission about the Italian screening programme, I wonder whether the Italian consulate would be able provide a briefing or some research on that programme, which has reduced SCD by almost 90 per cent.

Can we also write to NHS Scotland and ask how it is treating Covid-19? I had a round-table meeting in which I was told that people with Covid-19 are not being treated as patients or given priority, even though they have reservations about their illness.