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It would be helpful if you could write to the convener with that information so that we all have it. In the previous evidence session, one of the witnesses from the people’s panel, who is a GP, mentioned that they had not even got basic information about whether there was a treatment plan in place for one of their patients when they were released from prison. Basic stuff is not happening that I think that we would all expect should be happening.

You can respond to that point now if you want to, cabinet secretary. I just thought that it was important to emphasise that while you are before the committee.

That is helpful.

Recommendation 5 from the people’s panel says that

“All services should be able to refer to each other”,

be they in the health or social care environments or in the third sector. A number of services are involved in a constituency case that I am dealing with. They include addiction services; environmental services, which are sometimes based in the council; landlord registration and private landlord services; and Police Scotland. In that case—I will not say where it is—there is a close that cannot be used for housing. The private landlords have given up in despair because it has, in effect, become a place for vulnerable adults to gather and consume drugs. I visited it relatively recently and there was drugs paraphernalia strewn everywhere. It was quite a sight. The back court is an environmental hazard.

The private landlords are keen to do the right thing, which is why they reached out to me. I am leveraging in—I hope—addiction services, environmental services and Police Scotland, because the landlords hope to secure that place and bring those properties back into use. However, I am conscious that there are very challenging but very vulnerable adults using that location. The private landlords reached out to me and I fed stuff in.

In such cases, should we expect implicit co-operation, without the MSP being involved, between local authority environmental services, landlord registration services, Police Scotland and others, in order to join those dots? At the moment, I will join the dots, and I see that as an opportunity. The cabinet secretary spoke about taking every opportunity to engage with those who are vulnerable, to do the right thing and to support them. In my example, they are very challenging. There is a blight on the community—it is not the vulnerable people, but the impact of their addiction—and we all want to do the right thing to fix it. Are you confident that, based on recommendation 5 of the people’s panel, services implicitly co-operate with one other to do the right thing?

Thank you.

I welcome the fact that the Scottish Affairs Committee is turning its attention to this really important topic. Paul Sweeney’s comments about the swirl of misinformation around the facility has reminded me that, although the efficacy of the approach is not in its infancy, the facility is still in its infancy. Is there a slight nervousness about it being quite early on to assess the outcomes from the facility, and is there a feeling that the evidence and lived experience need to be gathered over a period in order to properly analyse what the outcomes are and what lessons can be learned? Is that a caveat in relation to any inquiry at this time?

Thank you.

You mentioned the “Just say no” campaign. I was hoping that you were younger than me. I remember that campaign and I was hoping that you would not remember it.

Can you say a bit about the importance of external organisations in delivering some of that education? I will name check Public Health Scotland, which is also involved in some of this work. The reason I mention that is that I want bodies such as Public Health Scotland to listen to this evidence session so that they continue to engage with the panel and other agencies, as set out in the Scottish Government’s response to your recommendations. Can you say a little bit more about the importance of external organisations as part of drug education both within schools and in communities?

Audrey Nicoll mentioned the importance of data sharing between the public sector and the third sector. There was supposed to be a single shared assessment between the NHS and third sector organisations. That was to be prioritised, but it has never been implemented. Can you give us any update on that, cabinet secretary? In your written response, you mention that the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill could be a vehicle to finally realise what we want to see happen in that area.

I have no further questions, but may I write to you about the specifics of that case to see whether a best-practice template could be embedded in public practice?

Can you say a little more about why you think that embedding this topic in core education is so important, and why it is important that parents are involved in what that will look like? I guess, from what you are saying, that you would also expect Education Scotland to be speaking to you about what that might mean in practice.

I thank everyone for their answers. I am sure that Public Health Scotland, Education Scotland and the whole family wellbeing fund will be listening to this exchange in order to engage with you on an on-going basis.