Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 15 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on Professor Dame Carol Black's assessment in her report, Review of drugs part two: prevention, treatment and recovery, that “each £1 spent on [drug] treatment will save £4 from reduced demands on health, prison, law enforcement and emergency services".
We are supportive of Professor Dame Carol Black's report highlighting the importance of spending on drug treatment. The figures used in her review are sourced from Public Health England, so cannot be directly applied to Scotland.
Public Health Scotland (PHS) have been commissioned to conduct a comprehensive and independent evaluation of the National Mission. As part of the evaluation, PHS have also commissioning an external study of how National Mission funds have been allocated and spent, and the benefits which that expenditure has (or is likely to have) delivered.
The study will have a number of different research objectives including a summary of existing review-level evidence on treatment effectiveness and cost-effectiveness for treatments in scope, as well as an overview of evidence gaps. The economic evaluation report is anticipated to be published in the first half of 2026. The final evaluation report will be published in 2026.