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Alongside my other updates, I will be happy to provide that information, if there is anything further on which to update the committee.

On Mr Doris’s first point, he touches on an area that we need to consider, which is whether there is a route by which we can collect robust data that is able to be published. We will consider whether more could be done in that regard.

On the second point, Maggie Page has already addressed the fact that support is available outwith the residential rehab picture and that people are being supported throughout their journey. Depending on the individual, that will shift between community organisations, statutory services and general practitioners; indeed, a variety of different individuals and organisations could and should be involved. Again, it will be difficult to audit that journey, as everybody’s journey will be slightly different, but I take the point about whether more could be done, and we will take that away and look at it.

That important area forms part of the suite of investments that are being made and the interventions that are available in order to provide a person-centred approach to responding to drug or alcohol dependency.

We have made particularly good progress on MAT standards 1 to 5, and I commend the alcohol and drug partnerships, as well as the statutory services that Paul O’Kane referenced, on the work that has been done.

Standards 6 to 10 have been more challenging, and we have more work to do on them. The intervention of some of my predecessors has been important in providing direction to alcohol and drug partnerships to meet the targets and to invest in interventions to ensure that the MAT standards are met.

Mr O’Kane queries whether there is confidence on timescales. I cannot give a guarantee today that we will meet them, but I believe that good progress is being made, as has been referenced. We will continue to support ADPs, as well as the statutory services involved, to ensure that the importance of meeting those timescales is recognised.

For some people, residential rehab and abstinence are the right route, while for others, a medically assisted treatment pathway works best. In trying to get it right for everyone, we must recognise the need for person-centred approach.

I will bring in Richard Foggo to provide more detail.

I do not have a specific timescale that I can articulate to you, convener, because the matter is still subject to negotiation and discussion with the United Kingdom Government. We have had constructive discussions with the Home Office on the drug checking pilot, and our interaction with it is important. We certainly believe that the evidence points to its being another harm reduction measure that can make a difference in saving people’s lives. It is linked to some of the work on the rapid action drug alert and response—or RADAR—system to identify issues with regard to the supply of drugs and to give people a greater understanding of what they are purchasing and, therefore, what they are using.

We want to take forward the pilot sites in Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow, and that, alongside the safer consumption facility, will help us take forward our work on the basis of harm reduction, and give people the opportunity to access treatment as a result. As with the safer consumption facility, signposting would be available to help people move towards recovery opportunities. Predominantly, it is all about ensuring that we reduce harm.

Yes. We will continue to work with local systems on ensuring that the money that is provided for ADPs is spent on the services that we would expect to be delivered.

ADP funding has doubled, as Ms Dowey recognises, and as is covered by Audit Scotland. There has been an increase in ADP funding, and that is provided both through the regular funding for alcohol and drug partnerships and through the increase that has been provided from the national mission funding.

There is local decision making at play here, and I do not want to cut across that, nor disrespect the principle of local decision making itself, as Ms Dowey will recognise. However, we are looking at how we can work with local systems. I have a wider interest, beyond this policy area, in our health and social care partnerships on issues such as social care and making sure that there is transparency about where the money is going so that services are tailored to the people who need them. That is as true for social care as it is, in this case, for people seeking alcohol and drug services.

We are making progress on the stigma action plan, as Maggie Page set out. The workforce plan—I will be corrected if I am wrong—is being progressed at the end of this year, and we are coming forward with more advice there. There is work in train on all three areas, and I would be happy to provide the committees with more information on that if it is not in the written evidence that I provided previously.

I will get Maggie Page to provide the exact number. The most recent increase that we gave to funding residential rehab was £38 million, providing an increase of 140 beds. Public Health Scotland has estimated that, in the most recent period for which we have data available, 938 people have been publicly funded to go through residential rehab. We can say with confidence that we are on track to meet the commitment that 1,000 publicly funded spaces a year will be available.

That is an important aspect of the wider commitment that we are making, because there is no single route by which people can achieve recovery. As Ms Wells will testify, there will be different circumstances at play for every person who has a drug or alcohol dependency. It is therefore important that we take a person-centred approach. We need to provide a balance and make available a range of harm reduction and treatment, so that we can give people the opportunity to find a way to recover at a pace that suits them. That includes the Corra Foundation support that we are providing.

Maggie Page will be able to provide you with the exact numbers of what we have.

Again, I will bring in Maggie Page to develop the point.

Mr Doris touches on an important consideration. I am not familiar with the specifics, but I do not think that the Government holds data on that area, and whether individual ADPs or health and social care partnerships hold it is a question to be answered.

In response to that line of inquiry, however, I absolutely see merit in looking at whether we could take this matter forward and develop it further to ensure transparency around not only availability, but clinical decision making. I will bring in Maggie Page, as she might be able to provide greater detail on that.

Thank you very much, convener, and good morning, colleagues. I really appreciate the opportunity to answer your questions today.

I want to begin by wishing Christina McKelvie all the very best in her treatment. We look forward to her return as Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy.

We launched the national mission to reduce drug-related deaths in 2021. Since then, the Scottish Government and our partners have worked tirelessly to bring innovative, structural change to that complex emergency, and we remain fully committed to reducing drug deaths and harms. Backed by £2 million of investment from the Scottish Government, a safer drug consumption facility, the first in the United Kingdom, will open soon in Glasgow. That landmark evidence-based service, which was co-designed with local people using substances, will help protect those who are most vulnerable from overdose and reduce harm.

It is, however, just one of the programmes of work that we have been taking forward. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the wider action that we are taking to reduce harm and to improve the lives of people and communities that are impacted by drugs and alcohol.

On 31 October, Audit Scotland published a report on drug and alcohol services, which acknowledged that we have “improved national leadership” and have made significant progress in tackling Scotland’s long-standing issues with drugs and alcohol, notably through significant investment and innovative action in our national mission. That action includes widening access to life-saving Naloxone, expanding treatment capacity and increasing access to residential rehabilitation.

However, despite all the progress, there is more to be done. The report specifically draws attention to work on local accountability, so we are stepping up our work with local leaders to strengthen accountability against national and local outcomes. It also highlighted the need for a “whole-systems approach” and “more preventative” action, and I assure colleagues of the Government’s commitment in that area.

Our response to the Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce’s recommendations has delivered progress, for example, the publication this September of the mental health and substance use protocol and our work to implement the “Drugs and Alcohol Workforce Action Plan 2023-2026”, which was published in December 2023. Our whole-systems approach to prevention aligns with our wider vision for health and social care—that of a Scotland where people, including those with drug and alcohol dependencies, live longer, healthier and fulfilling lives.

There is, however, clearly still more to be done. The first years of the national mission were about laying the foundations; we are now committed to building on those foundations while responding to new threats and challenges, such as the emergence of novel, stronger synthetic drugs, which pose increased risks to our communities.

Scotland’s drug and alcohol deaths remain too high—I am absolutely clear on that point. Each death is a tragedy—a life lost too soon—and it will be felt dearest by the families concerned. However, we are driven by a steadfast belief in the necessity and possibility of change, and we remain fully committed to delivering on our commitments.

I look forward to the opportunity to provide fuller updates during the meeting.

Ms Haughey touches on an important issue. We all have agency in respect of tackling stigma, with regard to the language and terminology that we use and the recognition that drug or alcohol dependency is a health issue. Government can show clear leadership in that regard, and we are trying to do so.

Nonetheless, there is a role for, and a responsibility on, those who report the news to be cognisant of not only the people who have a drug or alcohol dependency, but their family members. They should ensure that the language that is used to describe those issues does not create greater barriers, or maintain barriers, that prevent people from feeling that they are able to access treatment. That is the stigma issue.

We need to move on from the stereotypes and some of the language that is and has traditionally been used in this area. That is clear in the language that we in Government use, and in how we approach the issue, and I believe that we are making progress on that as a Parliament, too. However, you are right that all of us, including our colleagues in the media, have a role to play in that regard.