Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 25 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how the number of prisoners developing drug problems has compared between private and publicly-run prisons in each of the last five years.
I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:
The healthcare provisions within Scottish Prisons have been the responsibility of NHS since 2011, this includes but is not limited to, the delivery of Alcohol and Drug services and all clinical assessments used to develop individual care plans or referrals. SPS are therefore unable to provide the information required.